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BRUSSELS: The EU on Wednesday (Dec 20) agreed to an overhaul of its asylum system that includes more border detention centres and speedier deportations, prompting migrant charities to slam the changes as “dangerous”.
But EU governments, officials and MEPs hailed the preliminary accord on the bloc’s new pact on asylum and migration as “historic”, saying it updated procedures to handle growing irregular arrivals while maintaining respect for human rights.
The legislative reform reached after lengthy negotiations between EU member countries and bloc lawmakers, has yet to be formally adopted by the European Council and European Parliament.
That is expected to be done before June 2024, when EU elections will decide the next parliament.
Nationalist, anti-immigrant parties are forecast to win more seats in the parliament, reflecting a harder stance among EU voters struggling with a high cost of living.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the “historic” agreement on “a fair and pragmatic approach to managing migration”.
Many EU countries, including France, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands also hailed the accord.
Italy’s interior minister, Matteo Piantedosi, called the agreed reform a “great success”, saying frontline countries like his own “no longer feel alone”.
But Hungary – which objects to having to take in irregular migrants or pay countries that do – rejected the deal in the “strongest possible terms,” its foreign minister Peter Szijjarto said.
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