(AP) Top European Union migration officials offered Wednesday to ease the asylum-evaluation rules for Poland, Lithuania and Latvia in response to what the EU has called a “hybrid attack” by Belarus to destabilize the bloc using migrants and refugees.
The move would make it harder for people to enter the 27-nation bloc from Belarus, even though fewer are now trying. Charity groups and lawmakers said the revised procedures would amount to legalizing “pushbacks,” the act of denying people their right to apply for asylum, often using force.
The EU migration officials proposed allowing Poland, Lithuania and Latvia for six months to extend the required time for registering asylum applications from three to 10 days to up to four weeks. Applications would only be accepted at dedicated border crossing points.
