From June 12, new rules for processing asylum applications will take effect in the EU. Russia has been included in the list of countries whose citizens may be directed to an accelerated procedure. This could affect the quality of case reviews and lead to an increase in rejections, writes The Insider. The new EU regulation makes accelerated processing mandatory for several categories of applicants. One such basis is citizenship of a country for which the average recognition rate of international protection in the EU is 20% or lower. For Russia, this figure was 18.1%. In some cases, applications may be processed under a border procedure – immediately after checks at the EU border. The processing time can be reduced to three months. The European Union Agency for Asylum claims that each application should still be considered individually. However, human rights defenders warn that the accelerated procedure could lead to an increase in rejections and affect Russians facing political risks – activists, anti-war citizens, deserters, journalists, human rights defenders, "foreign agents," and LGBTQ+ individuals. Politician Andrey Pivovarov, on behalf of the "Consuls" of the Anti-War Committee, asked the EU to prepare separate recommendations for the Russian Federation so that such categories of applicants are not sent for accelerated or border processing. Human rights defender Daria Dadli stated that the new EU rules are "a victory of absurdity over common sense, a complete disregard for human lives and human dignity."