Problems for Albania’s visa liberalization

TIRANA, March 14 – Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme said that there are no regrets over the decision to lift the visa restrictions for three Balkan countries.
But he added that the experience with the economic refugees who abused the visa-lifting freedom and swarmed to Belgium to seek asylum could have an effect on the next wave of the visa liberalization process.
Albania, together with Bosnia, is expecting Brussels to give them the go-ahead this summer.
Tirana says they have fulfilled all the issues included in the road map set from the European Union.
“I believe that the future of these countries lies in the European Union. Visa-lifting is an important step; I have no regrets over it. However, this experience has shown that the decision should be well-developed and accompanied by other measures,” Leterme said.
People from the non-EU member states of Serbia, FYROM and Montenegro have been allowed to travel freely to EU countries since the end of last year, but Albania and Bosnia were left behind.
But since the lifting of the Schengen visa restrictions, Brussels has reported that the number of FYROM and Serbian asylum seekers at its doorstep has soared.
Leterme cautioned that there is no chance for approval of the asylum applications.
Belgium and Sweden are swiftly returning ethnic Albanian and Roma asylum seekers to their countries of origin, hoping to avert an influx triggered by the recent removal of the visa requirement for Serbian and FYROM nationals
Busses carrying 400 asylum seekers left Belgium and took back to Serbia and FYROM hundreds of asylum seekers.
FYROM and Serbia will investigate whether organized crime gangs helped organist the mass departures.