Germany updates: Dobrindt talks migration with EU ministers – DW – 07/18/2025
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt is hosting colleagues from across the EU for a summit at the country's Zugspitz mountaintop.
Dobrindt is pushing for tougher EU migration policy.
Berlin on Friday morning deported some 81 Afghans, the second such flight since the Taliban returned to power.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz will give his first summer press conference since taking office.German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday morning will hold his first summer press conference since taking the oath of office in May.
The annual event, which usually begins with a statement by the chancellor followed by journalists' questions, can last hours and is typically a chancellor's last appearance before heading into summer vacation.
Merz is expected to field questions on the recent postponement of appointments to Germany's Constitutional Court in parliament, the war in Ukraine, and the ongoing tariff spat with the US.
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt on Friday will host several EU colleagues for a discussion on tightening migration policy in the bloc.
The meeting, which will take place at the top of Germany's highest mountain, the Zugspitze, will be attended by the interior ministers of Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France and Poland, as well as by EU Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner.
The ministers are scheduled to discuss deportations to third-countries as well as plans to shift asylum application processes there, fighting human trafficking, and the security of EU exterior borders.
Dobrindt has said he aims to release a so-called "Zugspitze declaration" at the meeting's end.
Critics have dubbed the meeting the "isolation summit."
and welcome to our coverage from DW's newsroom in Bonn.
Today, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will hold his first summer press conference, while Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt hosts EU colleagues to discuss migration policy, and Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul heads to Paris for talks on Franco-German ties and other international issues.
This will all take place as Germany carries out its second deportation flight of Afghans since the Taliban returned to power.
Stay here with us for this and other news from Germany.
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