---
title: "EU wants to triple the size of Frontex—to 30,000 personnel—and expand its mandate"
url: https://moldova1.md/p/88772/eu-wants-to-triple-the-size-of-frontex-to-30-000-personnel-and-expand-its-mandate
published: 2026-10-28T08:00:00Z
language: en
author: "Redacția  TRM"
section: "International"
source: moldova1.md
---

# EU wants to triple the size of Frontex—to 30,000 personnel—and expand its mandate

> The European Commission has proposed a major expansion of the mandate of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex). Under the proposal presented on October 27, the agency’s standing corps will grow to 10,000 personnel by 2027 and reach 30,000 by 2041. Frontex will also become the European Union’s main operational body responsible for returning migrants, DW reports.

![](https://storage.moldova1.md/images/7185af04-6c1a-4d9c-81f9-500827d56b5a.jpg)

The European Commission has proposed a major expansion of the mandate of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex). Under the proposal presented on October 27, the agency’s standing corps will grow to 10,000 personnel by 2027 and reach 30,000 by 2041. Frontex will also become the European Union’s main operational body responsible for returning migrants, DW reports.

"We must decide who can enter the EU, who can stay, and who must leave the European Union," stated Magnus Brunner, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration.

The new mandate will allow the Frontex agency to assist in the return of migrants not only from EU member states but also from other countries, including transit states.

Currently, for every 100 individuals instructed to leave the European Union, only 32–33 are actually returned to their countries of origin or other destination states.

The European Commission also proposes creating rapid-reaction forces within Frontex that can intervene at the request of any EU member state and reach its borders within 24 hours.

The reform also took into account lessons learned from the migration crisis this summer in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, on the north coast of Africa.

The new rules could apply to citizens of any country outside the European Union—including Russian and Belarusian nationals—if they lack a legal right to remain within EU territory.

The reform will not apply to individuals who hold a residence permit or possess another form of legal residency status in the European Union, nor to Ukrainian citizens benefiting from temporary protection. Furthermore, asylum seekers cannot be returned before a decision is made on their application for international protection.