Magnus Brunner
Austrian European Commissioner for internal affairs and migration.
Magnus Brunner met the prime ministers of Saint Lucia and Antigua and Barbuda in New York on 24 September 2026; they sought more time to close the passport sales his June letter set to end by 1 June 2028, and no deal followed.
Last refreshed: 3 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Will Brunner trade a longer deadline for tougher vetting?
Timeline for Magnus Brunner
Held to the 1 June 2028 closure request
Nomads & Communities: Caribbean PMs ask EU for CBI transitionBackground
Magnus Brunner is an Austrian politician from the centre-right Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) and has been European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration since December 2024. Before moving to Brussels he served as Austria's finance minister from 2021 to 2024. His portfolio covers the EU's asylum and migration rules, external borders and Visa policy.
Visa policy gives him direct leverage over Caribbean citizenship-by-investment schemes, because passports sold by those states carry Visa-free travel to the Schengen area. His June 2026 letter asked five states (Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, and Antigua and Barbuda) to close their schemes by 1 June 2028. The letter also set two vetting safeguards due by September.
On 24 September he met Saint Lucia's Philip J. Pierre and Antigua and Barbuda's Gaston Browne in New York, where both asked for a longer wind-down. The talks ended without agreement, and a technical TEAM from the five states was due to meet EU officials in October.
What deadline did the EU set for Caribbean passport sales?
Who is Magnus Brunner?
Which countries received the EU's citizenship-by-investment letter?
