Authorities promise to strengthen border control, increase assistance to minority populations and prosecute those who misuse the system.
TIRANA, Nov. 8 – Faced with increased concerned by EU authorities, Western Balkan countries have jointly pledged to devise concrete steps to work closely with the EU on asylum claims, human trafficking, weapons, drugs and judicial reforms. A a conference in Tirana earlier this week, interior and justice ministers from the Western Balkans acknowledged the “fundamental importance of the visa liberalization regime” that has been applied since 2009 and 2010.
“Visa-free travel has brought our citizens closer to the EU and represents a core achievement in our European integration efforts,” the ministers said in a joint statement.
They insisted that the majority of their citizens were proper travelers and the visa liberalization was important because it facilitated contacts, enhanced business opportunities and increased cultural exchange with the EU states.
They acknowledged that thousands of citizens – mainly from Serbia and Macedonia נbut also from Albania, Bosnia and Montenegro, have sought asylum in the EU. However, the Balkan countries’ ministers pledged further reforms and steps to “appropriately and effectively address this phenomenon.”
They said they will enhance operational cooperation and information exchange, improve border management, irregular migration, asylum and readmission. They said they will investigate facilitators of the irregular migration and prosecute those who enable the misuse of the visa-free regime, strengthen border control and increase assistance to minority populations.
Experts of the countries and of the EU will convene in the next days to set ways and concrete steps in these activities.
