People fleeing Russia after President Vladimir Putin’s partial mobilization of the country’s armed forces to fight in Ukraine have the right to claim asylum in the European Union, a spokesperson for the European Commission said on Thursday. “This is an unprecedented situation,” Anita Hipper, a spokesperson responsible for migration said. Applications would need to be considered on a case-by-case basis, Hipper said, adding work was ongoing with EU member states to find a joint approach. The Finnish border guard reported an uptick in traffic from the east on Wednesday evening after Putin’s parti…