06.10.2011, 15:08

Follow-up of the increase of asylum applications from the Western Balkans Countries under visa free regime meeting


Follow-up of the increase of asylum applications from the Western Balkans Countries under visa free regime meeting took place in Brussels on 5 October 2011, since more detailed discussion was needed in order to analyse the present situation and to tackle it effectively to avoid negative implications that could endanger the achievements of the visa liberalisation process.
Visa Liberalisation is one of the greatest achievements in the process of European integration for the Western Balkan countries. As part of the Post Visa Liberalisation Monitoring Mechanism an alert system coordinated by Frontex was established, which allows the European Commission and the Member States to follow closely migration flows from the Western Balkan countries to the EU Member States.

Data collected from the end of the summer season shows, for some Western Balkan countries, a tangible increase in the overall number of asylum applications in a number of EU Member States. Germany, Belgium and Sweden, continue to be the most affected, but other Member States also have experienced the same phenomenon and have raised concerns about the proper management of the migration coming from Western Balkan countries.



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