Germany and EU allies push for asylum crackdown and more deportations

BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany’s Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt and five European counterparts agreed on a set of goals on Friday to tighten asylum rules in the bloc, including allowing deportations to Afghanistan and Syria as standard practice.

The meeting at Germany’s highest peak, the Zugspitze, follows Berlin’s decision in May to reject asylum seekers at the border, a policy it said was coordinated with neighbouring countries but drew significant criticism.

Dobrindt met with his…