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EU calls for more actions to maintain visa-free scheme for Western Balkans

Xinhua, February 26, 2015 Adjust font size:

The European Commission Wednesday published its fifth assessment of the visa-free scheme with the Western Balkan countries, calling for more actions to address potential abuses of the EU asylum system.

The assessment aimed at checking on functioning of the visa-free scheme with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, saying the European Commission remains committed to maintaining visa-free travel for citizens of the Western Balkan countries.

According to the assessment, 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 percent higher than for the same period of 2013.

Germany remains the largest recipient of Western Balkan visa-free asylum applications, with an increased share of the Western Balkan intake from 12 percent in 2009 to 75 percent in the first nine months of 2014.

The Commission also recommended that the most-affected EU member states and Schengen-associated countries take steps to address the pull factors of irregular migration.

The Commission called for more efforts in streamlining asylum procedures for the citizens of the five visa-free Western Balkan countries, for example, by having more staff assess asylum cases in peak periods or by establishing an accelerated procedure that enables the swift processing of applications at peak times or for citizens of particular countries.

The Commission suggested member states introducing more cautious and selective use of cash benefits, such as pocket money and financial return assistance, to reduce the financial incentives for asylum abuse; Organising high-level visits to the countries concerned and information campaigns, in cooperation with local NGOs and municipalities; strengthening operational cooperation and information exchange, including through liaison officers, with the authorities of the countries concerned. Endit