The EU has radically changed its migration rules. Now Russians’ applications for refugee will be considered under an accelerated procedure. And if the person refuses, they can be deported to a “safe third country”

On June 12, the new European Pact on Migration and Asylum came into force. This is a package of reforms obligatory for all EU member states. EU authorities believe that the pact will speed up the processing of asylum applications, strengthen controls at the borders and help more evenly distribute the burden of accepting refugees between countries. However, the reform is also actively criticized by human rights organizations. Meduza tells what innovations are in the pact, whether it will affect Russian citizens and what prompted Europe to carry out reform.