22/02/2019 (Agence Europe) – The European Commission reiterated on Friday 22 February that it does not intend to legislate on humanitarian visas, as requested by the European Parliament in December 2018 in a non-binding resolution (see EUROPE 12157). It considers that it has already fulfilled its obligations in this respect through the European resettlement programme still under discussion in the EU Council. In this way, it clarified its position on a case that the Hungarian government is using to accuse it of promoting migration in the EU in an advertising campaign (see EUROPE 12197, 12198). According to a March 2017 ruling by the EU Court of Justice, Member States are free to decide whether or not to grant humanitarian visas to persons who want to travel to their territory with the intention of seeking asylum (see EUROPE 11740). (SP)