The Dutch EU presidency and the European Commission have said their top priority in the next six months is to reduce the number of asylum seekers.
Mark Rutte, the Dutch leader, whose country is to chair EU proceedings until July, said in Amsterdam on Thursday (7 January): “To stem the flow of migrants, to bring down these numbers consideraby, is of crucial importance. We cannot continue with the present numbers.”
The commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, and the Dutch EU com...
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Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.