On Thursday 28 February, the European Commission published a brochure responding point by point to the Hungarian government's statements on European migration policies in an information campaign.
Hungarians “deserve facts, not fiction”, said Natasha Bertaud, spokeswoman for the European Commissioner for Migration, Dimitris Avramopoulos. In this brochure, the Commission explains its actions concerning both “mandatory quotas for asylum seekers” and “mandatory resettlement”, as asserted by the Hungarian campaign. Resettlement remains voluntary in the EU, and the idea of mandatory quotas for the relocation of asylum seekers for all Member States has been abandoned. It also points to claims that it wants to weaken Member States' protection of their borders – the Commission has proposed a standing 10,000 coastguard and border guard corps – and that it wants to fund organisations supporting migration in the EU.
Finally, the Commission explains that it has not reduced European funds for countries that oppose migration, but has made more funds available for countries tackling migration. The brochure can be found at: https://bit.ly/2tIKe1J. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)