Yesterday, the Commission published its fifth assessment of the functioning of the visa-free scheme with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. The fifth post visa liberalisation report on the Western Balkans shows that more measures are necessary to maintain the integrity of the visa-free scheme and to address potential abuses of the EU asylum system.
“The European Commission remains committed to maintaining visa-free travel for citizens of the Western Balkans countries. The benefits of visa liberalisation have been very visible in terms of enhancing people-to-people contacts and business opportunities. However, the misuse of the visa-free travel scheme for seeking asylum in the EU must be addressed systematically and through proper allocation of resources. Our report formulates a set of recommendations to tackle the push and pull factors of irregular migration so I, therefore, strongly call for the full support and engagement of all participating countries”, said Dimitris Avramopoulos, Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship.
Main findings
Asylum abuse by citizens of the visa-free countries in the Western Balkans remains a considerable concern.
The number of asylum applications submitted in the EU and Schengen-associated countries by nationals of the five visa-free Western Balkan countries has been steadily rising since visa liberalisation was achieved, peaking in 2013 at 53 705 applications. Figures for the first nine months of 2014 are 40 % higher than for the same period of 2013.
At the same time, the asylum recognition rate across the EU and Schengen-associated countries continued to fall for all Western Balkan visa-free citizens, indicating that the overwhelming majority of applications remained manifestly unfounded. The recognition rate was 3.7 % for Montenegrin citizens, 2.7 % for Serbian citizens, and 1 % for nationals of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Meanwhile, 8.1 % of Albanian applicants and 5.9 % of citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina received international protection in the EU and Schengen-associated countries in 2013.
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia joined the EU’s visa-free regime in December 2009 (IP/09/1852); Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina in November 2010 (MEMO/10/548).
Following visa liberalisation, some EU Member States experienced an increase in unfounded asylum applications lodged by nationals of the visa-exempted Western Balkan countries. To prevent risks of misuse of the visa-free scheme, the Commission put in place a mechanism to monitor the implementation of the measures taken by the Western Balkan countries towards addressing potential abuses.
(Source: Europa)
