News: Illegal migrants in the EU thanks to visa agreements: Serbia targeted

During the General Affairs Council meeting in Prague on 14 October, the Commissioner for Internal Affairs, Ylva Johansson, drew attention to the problem of increasing irregular entry into the European Union. Among the causes of the increase, the Commissioner explains, there is a questionable management of visa policy by some Western Balkan countries. These countries, which enjoy a visa exemption for entry into the European Union, have in turn signed exemption agreements with third countries, thus facilitating the illegal entry into the European Union of migrants in transit on their territory. This is the case, for example, with Serbia, which has exemption agreements with India, Tunisia and Burundi.

To remedy the problem, the Commissioner urged Serbia to align its visa policy with that of the EU, warning that a suspension of the visa regime towards Serbia is not to be ruled out.