EU reaches agreement on migration policy reform

The European Parliament and EU member states have reached a political agreement on reform of the common migration policy, European Commissioner for Internal Affairs Ylva Johansson said, reported from Russian media.

"We have agreed on a comprehensive package on migration and asylum policy to better protect our external borders, greater solidarity, greater protection for asylum seekers, based on our European values,” she noted.

The set of reforms, called the Migration and Asylum Pact, will still have to go through a formal approval process. It includes a series of new rules to tighten controls at external borders, speed up the processing of asylum requests and more effectively remove those who have no right to remain in the EU.

The reform also involves a "fair” distribution of migrants across different EU countries, which should reduce the burden on "first-line” states facing an influx of illegal immigrants.

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