The European Union’s new Pact on Migration and Asylum came fully into force on Sunday, marking a major overhaul of how the bloc handles asylum procedures and migration management.
The rollout coincides with an informal meeting of EU migration ministers taking place in Nicosia under the Cypriot presidency of the Council of the European Union.
A key element of the new framework is the debate over establishing “return centers” in third countries outside the EU for people whose asylum claims have been definitively rejected.
Deputy Minister Nikolas Ioannidis said he is optimistic the pact will provide an effective and coherent system for managing migration across the bloc.
Speaking on arrival at the ministerial meeting, he said Cyprus has long argued that migration must be addressed in a comprehensive and coordinated way.
Ioannidis added that the pact creates a unified legal structure that will allow the EU to manage the issue collectively and with a single approach.
