EU interior ministers discussed, on Friday 14 October in Luxembourg, the increase in irregular arrivals to the EU from the Western Balkans route, up to three times higher than in 2021, which they attribute in part to Serbia’s visa liberalisation policy with a range of third countries, while the EU requires visas for nationals of these same third countries.
While there was no mention of retaliatory measures such as the suspension of Serbia’s visa-free regime, it was agreed that the EU...