After many years of unsuccessful efforts, EU member states and MEPs agreed today on new migration and asylum rules for the European bloc. The series of standards provides for, among other things, more effective checks on migrants and faster return of failed asylum seekers to their countries of origin. It also introduces compulsory solidarity among all EU states, which can help overburdened countries either by accepting part of the migrants or by providing financial or material aid. Our deputy director Viktor Daněk commented on the topic for Radiožurnál.
"In general, I would say that this reform embodies the huge shift in thinking that Europe has undergone from the crisis year of 2015, when the talk was mainly about relocations, to the present, where the issue is how to manage migration at the borders and how to better protect the borders and ensure better returns of those who are not entitled to asylum. In practice, therefore, it will tighten up border procedures considerably and will also introduce new instruments to secure those returns, something that Member States have been calling for for a long time."
You can listen to the full interview here (from about 12:10).
#Migration #Asylum policyBefore entering the NGO sphere, Viktor Daněk worked for almost ten years as a journalist. During his time with the public service Czech radio, he focused mainly on covering EU affairs. He spent almost five years as a permanent correspondent in Brussels, where he cooperated with other media outlets. Before his career in journalism, he gained experience in the area of marketing and communication in the Česká spořitelna banking group and at the Czech Technical University in Prague. He holds university degrees in Media Studies and International Relations. Viktor Daněk joined the EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy in October 2023. He continues to be active in the media as a freelancer. His main areas of interest are institutional questions of European integration, globalisation and the EU’s climate and migration policy.