00:00Activists behind the far-right Save Europe Act campaign are taking the European Commission
00:05to court after it refused to register a petition calling for a suspension of legal migration
00:10channels and the re-migration of legal third-country nationals deemed unintegrated.
00:16The Commission rejected the initiative on Thursday, arguing it would discriminate on
00:21the grounds of race and ethnic origin and was therefore manifestly contrary to EU values.
00:27Austrian activist Martin Schellner, the movement's leader, told Euronews their legal team is
00:33ready to file a lawsuit as early as Monday.
00:36The petition calls for a temporary suspension of non-Western immigration channels, including
00:41study and family reunification visas and the return of legally resident non-European nationals
00:47considered a serious cultural or financial burden.
00:50The campaign is backed by nationalist figures including Hungary's Viktor Orban, Spain's
00:55Santiago Abascal, Romania's George Simeon and Italy's Roberto Vanacci.
01:01While European citizens' initiatives require one million signatures from at least seven
01:06member states to be considered by EU institutions, the campaign says it has gathered nearly 600,000
01:12signatures informally.
01:14Welcoming the rejection, Green's MEP Cristina Guarda described the petition as hate propaganda
01:19promoted by the far-right.
