In a report published on Wednesday 20 December, the European Commission stated that the Western Balkan countries (Albania, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia) and those of the Eastern Partnership (Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) are continuing to meet the requirements contained within the visa liberalisation regime. Nonetheless, according to a Commission press release, the report “focuses on specific areas identified… where further monitoring and actions are considered necessary in order to ensure the continuity and sustainability of the progress achieved in the…visa liberalisation process”, particularly irregular migration and the fight against corruption and organised crime.
In this first evaluation carried out as part of the new follow-up mechanism applicable to the eight countries that have concluded their respective dialogue on visa liberalisation, the Commission considers that, despite continuous efforts made to prevent and tackle organised crime, “criminal groups from these countries are still active in multiple criminal activities in the EU including the trafficking of human beings and illegal goods, property crime, migrant trafficking and cybercrime”. The Commission points out that “these countries must step up their action to continue the fight against organised crime” and particularly calls for “immediate measures” in Moldova and Ukraine.
In the context of the fight against irregular migration, the report points out that the countries are all continuing to take measures “that are already yielding results”. The Commission indicates, however, that problems “are persisting, particularly in Albania, a country with the highest rate of bogus asylum requests amongst States where their nationals are exempt from visa obligations”. It adds that “the Albanian authorities must continue their efforts to ensure that implementation continues with the same intensity”. The number of Albanian nationals seeking asylum in the EU declined by 28% in the first half of 2017 compared to the second half of 2016 (from 17,165 to 12,440) and, between 2015 and 2016, refused entry increased by 91%. According to the Commission, “cooperation in the readmissions field is continuing unabated and as a whole achieved high rates of return”.
The report is available at: http://bit.ly/2kQkqMj (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)