Athens, Greece—— The EU's new migration and home affairs commissioner Magnus Brenner was in Athens on Thursday for policy talks with Greece, which has long been one of the main entry points for migrants into the bloc.

Brenner, an Austrian conservative who took office late last year, has previously said there was a need to strengthen the EU's policy on deportations, a contentious issue within the 27-member bloc. EU lawmakers last year approved major reforms to immigration laws, known collectively as the Migration and Asylum Pact.

"Of course, there are still things to do, there are still things before us. Implementation of the agreement is one of them," Brenner told Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the start of the meeting. "But the topic of payback is definitely something we have to address as well. Hopefully we can deliver on that promise. Even though I'm just getting started, I'm still optimistic."

Greece, one of several EU member states seeking tighter immigration controls, has taken a tough stance on immigration, with the government insisting it will implement "strict but fair" policies to crack down on illegal immigration and smuggling networks.

But it has also been strongly criticized for deporting recently arrived migrants without giving them a chance to apply for asylum - a process known as "pullback" in which the government strongly denies its involvement.

"Greece is a country that has been at the forefront of the migration crisis for many years," Mitsotakis said. “We are pleased with the progress being made at European level in rebalancing Europe’s overall migration policy to protect external borders, with a strong emphasis on returns but also a strong emphasis on legal migration pathways.”

Brenner also met with Greece's immigration, maritime and foreign ministers before traveling to Cyprus on Friday to meet local officials.

Brenner's visit to Athens comes just days after the European Court of Human Rights issued a landmark ruling that Greece unlawfully deported a woman to neighboring Turkey and said the boycott was systemic. The decision could affect how Europe handles migrants at its borders. Frontline EU member states receive financial support from Brussels to tackle illegal immigration.

The court awarded 20,000 euros ($21,000) in damages to the woman, a Turkish citizen who goes by the initials ARE, ruling that she was wrongfully deported after entering Greece in 2019 and was not given the opportunity to make an asylum claim.

"The Court considers that there are strong indications that, at the time of the alleged incident, there was a systematic approach by the Greek authorities towards third-country nationals coming from the Evros region (located on the Greek border) to Turkey," the decision said.

Last year, Greece registered more than 60,000 illegal immigrants, an increase of nearly 50% from 2023. Greece seeks direct funding from the European Union to pay for a planned expansion of its border wall on its land border with Türkiye.