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France, Germany call on Albanians not to misuse visa free regime

Xinhua, January 31, 2015 Adjust font size:

The French and the German Embassies in Albania on Friday announced through a press release that the refugee status will not be granted to asylum seekers, whose true reasons are economic, according to Albanian Daily News.

"The asylum application procedure should not be misused, since it is strictly reserved only to true political refugees. The current liberalization allows visits to our countries or requests for visa to carry out studies or to work on a regular basis. We cannot accept any bypass of these procedures, because it is at the expense of the vast majority of Albanian citizens who respect these rules," it is said in the press release.

According to them, this would damage the interests of Albania in its significant efforts to be integrated in the European Union.

"In addition, the repatriation of Albanian citizens could lead to them being prohibited entry and stay in the Schengen area for several years," it is said in the joint statement of the two embassies. Endit