Brussels, 13/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - In Brussels on Thursday 12 March, the home affairs ministers of the EU discussed the migration situation in the Western Balkans.
This situation is of concern to the ministers, due to the increase in the number of nationals from these countries taking advantage of visa-free regimes and entering asylum applications, mostly considered to be unjustified, in the EU countries. In view of this situation, a number of countries, such as Austria, have called for a Balkans task force to be implemented.
“The situation in the Balkans is getting worse. We need to invest additional resources, as in the Mediterranean, to reduce the migratory pressure”, the Latvian home affairs minister, Rihards Kozlovskis, explained. The European Commissioner for Migration, Dimitris Avramopoulos, agreed that the agency Frontex should also look at the situation in the Balkans.
For the remainder, the home affairs ministers of the EU discussed the migratory situation in the Mediterranean, but did not make any specific decisions. They also discussed working with third countries to fight trafficking in human beings, as a cooperation agreement has been signed with Nigeria. Immigration will be on the agenda of the Foreign Affairs Council of Monday 16 March (see other article).
Commissioner Avramopoulos and the High Representative of the EU, Federica Mogherini, have drafted a joint letter in which they suggest that pilot projects be set in place in third countries to help them manage migratory flows and detect smuggling networks. The idea is also to reinforce the “regional protection” programmes - for instance, by resettling refugees in neighbouring countries, such as Syrians in Libya or Jordan - whilst doing more to help the third countries hosting these refugees. More than three million Syrians have so far fled their country, most of them ending up in neighbouring countries. (Solenn Paulic)