At the meeting under the auspices of the Berlin Process, the Western Balkan and European Union officials agreed yesterday on measures to curb illegal immigration on the ‘Balkan route’, the most important of which are the harmonisation of the visa policy of the six Western Balkan countries with EU standards and the suppression of human trafficking. This was announced by the German Ministry of the Interior, reports the Beta agency.
Yesterday, at the meeting of Interior Ministers, under the Berlin Process, an agreement was reached on effective border protection with the support of the European agency Frontex and on procedures for the repatriation of refugees who have no legal basis to stay in the EU. Ministers and officials met in Berlin at the invitation of German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser to discuss the suppression of illegal immigration via the Balkan route and the fight against organised crime.
“Europe has a shared responsibility to stop illegal entry so that we can continue to help people who urgently need our support,” Faeser said and added: “We want to protect people who come to us because of wars and political persecution. We remain true to our humanitarian responsibility. No man should set out across dangerous routes and put their life in danger, without having the prospect of staying in Europe.”
She also said that during the meeting, along with the agreement on migration, an agreement was reached that all European partners should further boost the cooperation with all Western Balkan countries in the fight against corruption and organised crime.
The meeting in Berlin was also attended by other interior ministers, relevant officials from Austria, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Croatia, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Great Britain, and the representatives of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Serbia.
(Al Jazeera Balkans, 21.10.2022)
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