Brussels, 21/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - Given the worsening migration crisis in the Balkans over the past few days, where thousands of people have been blocked at the EU's borders, the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, has decided to organise a mini-summit on Sunday 25 October at the Commission premises. This will bring together European leaders and those from Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia and their counterparts from Serbia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).
This unprecedented summit has been arranged following a number of telephone conversations organised by Juncker and should help draw up a number of operational measures that can be applied directly, as well as enhance cooperation between these countries, explained the Commission, in a press release. The President of the European Council, Donald Tusk and the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the EU have also been invited to take part in this mini-summit, which is expected to last three hours and continue during dinner. The European Asylum Support Office (EASO) and the Frontex will also attend. On 8 October, the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the EU organised a meeting in Luxembourg on the subject of the Balkans trajectory. This meeting highlighted the need for Balkan countries to improve ways of registering and identifying asylum seekers.
Following Hungary's sealing of its border last weekend with Croatia, thousands of migrants have arrived in Slovenia and the country says that it has been overwhelmed by the numbers arriving in the country. According to the Slovenian government, 18,500 migrants have arrived in the country since Saturday 17 October. In response to this situation, Slovenia has given new powers to its army and called for additional European Union assistance. The European Commissioner for Migration, Dimitris Avramopoulos is expected to travel to the country on Thursday 22 October.
The decision by Hungary to close its border with Croatia has also had the effect of blocking migrants at different border points in several countries. But at least 12,100 migrants are currently in Serbia, according to figures provided by Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic. According to the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), at least 2,500 migrants are also blocked in no man's land between Serbia and Croatia.
On 21 October, the European Commission announced that 19 asylum seekers had to be resettled last week from Italy to Finland and 49 to Sweden, in accordance with the decisions adopted in September.
Special JHA meeting on 9 November
The Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the EU also announced on 21 October that it was organising a special meeting of Ministers for the Interior and Justice on 9 November, in Brussels.
In a press release, the rotating Presidency explained, “given the deterioration of the situation on the ground, this JHA Council seeks to strengthen and operationalize the European response, in an effort to ensure the follow-up and implementation of the measures decided and, if needs be, new measures”. The notorious hotspots still need to be finalised, particularly in Greece, by the end of November, as well as the most important questions still pending on cooperation with Turkey and management issues, by Greece, itself, and the EU's external borders. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)