The EU has adopted new rules that allow member states to enter into agreements with third countries for the handling of asylum seekers and deportees.

Denmark, which has been pushing for such an arrangement for several years, is now reaping the rewards of years of political headwinds.

Danish TV 2’s EU correspondent Lise Toft Hessellund is in no doubt about the significance.

“This is a huge victory for Denmark,” she says.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen previously described the reception of the proposal at EU level as being like shouting into an empty handball hall in Jutland.

Now the hall is full of like-minded supporters.

“Denmark has been the standard-bearer for this idea. What began as a highly controversial position and policy has now almost become mainstream in Europe,” says Hessellund.

Under pressure from voters and the immigration policies of right-wing parties, the Social Democrats launched the proposal for third-country reception centres as official policy.

What was for a long time met with scepticism and criticism from European partners is, with the new EU regulatory framework, in the process of becoming the European starting point.