There is no freedom without security

The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs of the European Parliament (LIBE) today has voted in favor of the text of the Parliament’s Decree on the establishment of a European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS). “At the negotiation of the ETIAS report, the idea was that there is no freedom without security,” Kinga Gál EPPs rapporteur stressed after the vote.

 

ETIAS will be an automated system enabling visa-free third-country nationals who travel to the Union to have security clearance before the person reaches the external border of the EU. The system will assess whether a person is not a security, illegal migration or public health risk for the EU. ETIAS will cease information and will greatly contribute to the work of our border guards.

“In order to guarantee the security of Hungarian and EU citizens, we need to know who will cross our borders. ETIAS will make this possible: it will carry out preliminary security checks on visa-free third-country nationals before they reach the Union’s external borders, “stressed Kinga Gál, Fidesz MEP.

“It shows the contradictory nature of parliamentary decision-making, that in the same time as we are strengthening our control at our external borders on those persons who are entering the EU with a passport and come from a visa-free regime, the EP also unchecked the way for illegal migrants by creating a mandatory relocation system without a permanent headcount limit” – added the politician of the People’s Party.

Kinga Gál’s statement after the successful LIBE vote on ETIAS report