In new breakthrough, EU countries agree new rules to manage future migration crises

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The preliminary agreement reached on Wednesday paves the way for establishing common rules to manage an unexpected mass arrival of asylum seekers, a crucial element of the European Union's migration reform.
Transcript
00:00 More solidarity to address migration crises in the EU.
00:05 Member states agreed on Wednesday to a new regulation managing any large and sudden arrival
00:10 of migrants at European borders after long and complicated talks among EU ambassadors.
00:17 The so-called crisis regulation, as it`s being called, will allow front-line member states
00:21 to fast-track asylum procedures when there are too many irregular border crossings, but
00:26 also to share the burden of reception with other EU countries.
00:31 Final details of the law will now be negotiated with the European Parliament.
00:37 The point of the European Parliament is binding relocation programs, ordered by the commission,
00:41 by EU coordinator for relocations. But I know that there`s resistance within the council,
00:48 so we got to come towards each other`s direction so that we build a compromise that results
00:55 in some form of effective, credible solidarity, not solidarity on a card.
01:01 But not all countries agree on the redistribution of asylum seekers across the EU. Poland and
01:06 Hungary`s ambassadors voted against the deal, and the Czech Republic, Austria and Slovakia
01:11 also abstained.
01:14 The entry of illegal migrants into Europe is not something that we should tolerate.
01:19 We need to strengthen our border controls. And the Central European countries say no
01:24 to the relocation of people who illegally entered and then other countries want to pass
01:30 them on. That`s not going to work. It hasn`t worked, and it`s not going to work in the
01:33 future either.
01:35 The crisis regulation was the last part of a larger migration deal to be agreed among
01:39 EU countries. Now, both member states and the European Parliament hope to finalize the
01:45 reforms by the end of the year.
01:47 For more UN videos visit: www.un.org/webcast

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