The EU authorities have again strongly warned Serbia and Macedonia, and to a lesser degree Montenegro, Bosnia and Albania over asylum claims.
TIRANA, Jan. 7 – Albania, like all the rest of the Balkan countries, should pay special attention to the border management and try to convince citizens that asylum in the European Union Schengen countries is not the way to reach a better life there, authorities say.
The EU authorities have strongly warned Serbia and Macedonia, and to a lesser degree, Montenegro, Bosnia and Albania that if there are an increasing number of their citizens asking for political asylum there they would reinstate the visa regime.
In 2009 and 2010 all these western Balkan countries were given the visa-free regime after they complied with a set of rules and management procedures in their borders.
But last year the EU countries, especially some in the northern area — Belgium, Netherlands and Germany — saw thousands of asylum applications.
The EU has already decided that there could be a temporary verdict on the visa regime unless these countries try and manage to stop such an influx.
True that Albania is the last in the list of the number of asylum seekers with some 5,000. But there were about 15,000 from Serbia, to be followed from Macedonia, Bosnia Herzegovina. More than 33,000 in total last year, a significant increase from some 30,000 a year ago. There have been many people from the Roma communities, but also Albanian and Serbs asking for asylum.
Europe may decide to temporarily suspend the visa-free regime for six months and may decide for the visa regime for individual countries.
That means that the Albanian authorities should keep a very close eye to the reasons why those thousands of people tried to ask for asylum. There have been cases when asylum was promised to a certain amount of money from people in the northwest of the country.
Poor Albanians believe that a new life in the developed western countries could improve their life. Unfortunately they have not understood that such a move will affect negatively not only themselves, as there have been bilateral deals from Tirana with EU countries to turn them back, but also all the other part of the population in the country.
