After the start of the Arab Spring in Tunisia, Commissioner Malström said that "Europe failed to stand up for democracy, freedom and human rights" as it prioritised securing the border over supporting those who had fought for liberty and democracy. Cecilia Malmström, the EU commissioner for Home Affairs, was invited on 25 June to the Migration Policy Centre of the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence, Italy, to give a keynote speech on "Establishing a European Migration Policy and responding to the Arab Spring: The ways the Migration Policy Centre can support Cecilia Malmström."
