The European Commission presented its first list of 'safe' countries of origin on Wednesday for the purposes of asylum, providing a list of states from which those applying for asylum will be subject to expedited processing within a three-month deadline.
The Commission considers that all candidate countries meet the criteria to be designated as safe countries of origin, with the temporary exception of Ukraine due to the ongoing war in its territory. That means Albania, Bosnia, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkiye are all on the list. Seven others join them: Kosovo, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Morocco and Tunisia.
