Risk of losing visa-free regime

TIRANA, May 15 – Following the recent moves in the Mediterranean, with the conflicts in the Arab countries and thousands of Arbs trying to cross the seas toward Europe, there is a higher risk that Europe may reconsider the visa-free regime for the non-EU member countries.
Slovenian MEP Tanja Fajon, who also heads the working group on Albania, warned that authorities in the Western Balkan countries should do more to prevent trans-border crime, if the current visa-free regime with the EU is to be maintained.
since the introduction of the visa-free regime for Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Albania, criminal groups have taken advantage of the situation and trafficked people across borders. Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro have been in visa-free relations with Schengen since 2009, while Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina since 2010.
“There is not much time left to improve the situation. It is very realistic that in June the European Council lifts the visa-free regime,” said Fajon in an interview for the Serbian daily Dnevnik.
Fajon further argued against the urges to increase member-state powers to impose unilateral border controls, such as were raised by France, Italy, and most recently Denmark.
“It is realistic to expect that the EU Council of Ministers will determine a mechanism for interim suspension of the visa liberalization in June, but it depends on the behavior of Serbia and other regional states whether this suspension will be activated,” she said.
she said that there was still time, but not much, to improve the situation in this respect.
Fajon added that due to the problem with bogus asylum seekers, there was a growing number of the EU countries which were ready to take harsher measures since they believed that crime rings, which organize transfer of false asylum seekers, had appeared after Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia, and later Bosnia-Herzegovina and Albania, joined so-called White Schengen List.
It seems that Albania is clear of such a phenomenon as Europe has not said until now that there are problems with Albanians asking for asylum in the EU Schengen countries.