You cannot be serious! Europe’s next migration chief was a tennis hotshot

BRUSSELS — Magnus Brunner, selected as the next European commissioner for migration, is so good at tennis he once beat a future U.S. Open champion.
“He was a tough opponent, and he always made life difficult for me on the court,” Julian Knowle, who won the men’s doubles crown in 2007 and played against Brunner in junior matches in the late 1980s, told POLITICO.
“His strength was not to miss,” he said. “I was always playing aggressive and offensive — he always tried to make me hit an extra shot and give me the chance to miss.”
If there’s an analogy to be found anywhere, it’s that politics, like tennis, is a game of strategy, especially the way Brunner plays them both. On and off court, he has carved out a reputation as a thinker and pragmatist — a politician who plays by the rules after years of scandals in Austrian politics, rather than just going aggressively for the easy win.
That’ll be tested in his role dealing with the challenges posed by migration to Europe, which, according to the latest data, has hit an annual net figure of 4.25 million. It’s an issue governments of the right and left alike are having to grapple with.
However, for Brunner and the Austrians the job may be a disappointment. In the runup to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s announcement on Tuesday, officials had made it known he was hoping for an economic role.
Serving as Austria’s finance minister since December 2021, he hails from Vorarlberg, the westernmost region of the country that for its small size and Alpine scenery, has a strong economic performance, with multiple manufacturing conglomerates based there.
Even Brunner’s hometown, a picturesque village near Lake Constance called Höchst, is home to manufacturing giant Julius Blum.
And here’s another clue about his personality: Locals have a reputation for being hardworking, thrifty, and mildly antisocial compared to their Viennese counterparts.
“These roots are a part of the people living here,” a local business leader and longtime acquaintance of Brunner said.
That thriftiness seems to have shaped Brunner’s fiscal conservatism. As finance minister he railed against issuing EU debt, and took a hardline stance during EU negotiations on national spending rules. Support for his center-right Austrian People’s Party has plummeted over migration issues despite the government tightening controls at its southern and eastern borders.
There has been a drop in arrivals by asylum seekers but the far-right Freedom Party has been leading in the polls for almost two years. A general election takes place at the end of this month.
Brunner is “not populist and always says we have to think about solutions before we present them, which is very, very tough,” said a key adviser, who, like others in this piece, was granted anonymity to discuss ongoing political talks.
That economic interest can sometimes lead to decisions that are politically unpalatable, two of Brunner’s colleagues said. The minister was against sanctions on Russian oil and gas after the country’s invasion of Ukraine, and campaigned unsuccessfully for Austria to host the EU’s anti-money laundering authority.
“This fiscal conservativeness is something that he’s born with, because he’s from a region in Austria that always is very conservative,” Brunner’s adviser said.
A former Austrian MEP who has worked with Brunner for years said he is “the opposite of a drama queen” and not one for playing party politics. He’s “not the party guy,” the ex-MEP said.
After his appointment as finance minister, he undertook civil service reforms to “calm things down” after the corruption scandals, and was able to push through tax reforms that had been blocked.
“He is open to speak to anybody from whatever party,” Brunner’s adviser said.
His passion for tennis isn’t limited to just playing it. He served as the head of Austria’s tennis association, and his victory against world-champion Knowle is legendary among his staff.
If approved as commissioner by the European Parliament, Brunner would be one of the most prominent figures from his region on the global stage, his old acquaintance said — adding that his neighbors would be proud of him, but, given their natural reserve, only “secretly.”