PM Rasmussen says Denmark has final word on EU migration policies

Newsdig coverage by Cbanga360.net

Danish Prime Minister Lars Rasmussen vowed Denmark will have the final say on its asylum and migration policies.

The European Union (EU) is struggling to accommodate hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers from the war-torn Middle East, Asia and Africa.

[flexiblemap address=”Copenhagen, Denmark” region=”EU” directions=”true” width=”100%” height=”250px” zoom=”9″ ]

Last month, Denmark agreed to accept 1,000 refugees, despite having the choice to opt-out of the otherwise mandatory EU quota scheme for distributing migrants throughout the union because of the terms of its membership of the bloc.

“It is crystal clear that the Danish immigration policy will still be decided by Denmark,” Rasmussen said in a speech before the parliament. He added that any decision to join European Union’s asylum policies would be put to a nationwide referendum.

The prime minister called on the nation to allow Denmark to continue to participate in the EU Europol police agency.

The country is set to hold a referendum on Dec. 3 where voters will be asked to change its opt-out status on a batch of EU legislative acts concerning Europol action to an opt-in model.

Europol provides intelligence on the migrant pressure at Denmark’s and European borders, Ramussen said. He added that coordinated police action was enabling EU nations to get a grip on the refugee influx.

Rasmussen spoke in the parliament a day after his ruling right-wing Venstre party obtained the backing of four other parties for a bill on tougher naturalization rules for immigrants, enough for the new legislation to be approved. (Sputnik)

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