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Leaders at Western Balkans conference agree to reduce migration

Xinhua, February 25, 2016 Adjust font size:

Interior and foreign ministers from Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria, as well as Western Balkans nations on Wednesday agreed to measures in which they would decide the conditions through which border crossings would be allowed, that are now only to apply to "people openly in need of protection."

During the Western Balkans conference held here, leaders agreed on a joint standard on the registry of refugees, and that those who present false papers will immediately be denied entry at the respective border.

At the conclusion of the conference titled "Managing Migration Together," Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner said the wish of those in attendance was to "have a chain reaction of reason."

Mikl-Leitner said she hoped to use the agreed-upon measures to apply pressure at Thursday's EU informal meeting of justice and home affairs ministers in Brussels, noting the survival of the EU could depend on how the refugee issue is handled.

Greek representatives were notably not invited to attend despite being the first country along the so-called Balkans migration route, with both Athens and EU officials in Brussels protesting the conference. Endit