Greece and Germany have reached an agreement to clear all pending Dublin Regulation cases, closing a long-standing chapter concerning asylum seeker returns to Greece. According to sources, this move comes at a critical time, as Athens has set as a strategic goal the implementation of the new Migration and Asylum Pact starting in June 2026 from a “clean slate,” without the burden of old case files.
Read: Asylum rules are changing: What the revision of “safe third countries” means for Greece
The new migration agreement
As Parapolitika.gr is in a position to know, this specific agreement was finalized today in Brussels by Migration and Asylum Minister Thanos Plevris and his German counterpart, in a meeting dominated by a shared understanding of migration challenges and the need for full preparation ahead of implementing the EU’s new framework. Sources from Parapolitika.gr in Brussels emphasize that the cases being cleared concern asylum seekers from third countries who had passed through Greece and under the current regulation, Berlin could return them to our country for re-examination of their applications. For years, the volume of these cases has been a pressure point for Athens.
Greece, for its part, recognizes that Germany has faced intense pressure in recent years through secondary migration flows. In this context, it characterizes this specific clearing of pending cases as an act of solidarity from Berlin toward Athens, substantially contributing to the transition to the new European migration system.
Plevris: “The solution to migration is border protection”
It is noted that in the proceedings of the European Union’s Justice and Home Affairs Council, held in Brussels, Migration and Asylum Minister Thanos Plevris and Deputy Migration and Asylum Minister Sevi Voloudaki participated, communicating Greek positions on implementing the European Migration and Asylum Pact, the new Returns Regulation, and the need for substantial and practical European support for frontline states. “We are in a transitional stage before full implementation of the new Migration and Asylum Pact. For the pact to succeed, however, flows must be reduced on one hand and returns increased on the other“, Minister Plevris stated characteristically.
Simultaneously, the minister emphasized that the solution to the migration issue is not returns from one member state to another. “The solution to migration is border protection. Let’s be honest, at some point we must speak openly about border protection with deterrence and not only with search and rescue. For Greece, it’s important to launch the PACT with the clearing of all pending Dublin cases from the past“.
For this reason, “we are proceeding with bilateral agreements with other states that were equally burdened in recent years due to secondary flows in order to achieve the best possible implementation of the Pact with the clearing of all pending cases,” as the Migration and Asylum Minister emphasized. Additionally, Minister Plevris welcomed the returns regulation provisions regarding return hubs, accelerating return procedures, and increasing administrative detention – regulations that Greece strongly supports and has already introduced into its national law.
Voloudaki: “European solidarity must be proven in practice”
For her part, Deputy Migration and Asylum Minister Sevi Voloudaki noted that “Greece implements a strict but completely legal migration policy, with the central goal of controlling flows, effective border protection, and consistent implementation of return decisions. The new European framework now gives us the tools to move from declarations to implementation, from tolerance to real deterrence. European solidarity must be proven in practice, through specific commitments and activation of all support mechanisms for frontline states”.
Within the Council framework, Greek government officials held bilateral meetings with counterparts from Bulgaria, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and Germany, focusing on strengthening cooperation in migration, returns, and protection of the European Union’s external borders.
The minister and deputy minister were accompanied by General Secretary of Migration Policy Manos Logothetis, Asylum Service Director Marios Kaleas, and the Ministry of Migration and Asylum’s diplomatic advisor, Ambassador Nikolaos Giotopoullos.
