Asylum rise puts Balkan visa-free scheme in danger
SVETLANA JOVANOVSKA, SVETLANA ANTIC-JOVCEVSKA, MARTINA HERZOG AND ZELJKO PANTELIC 21.10.2010 @ 10:20 CET There has been a sharp increase in asylum applications from Serbia and Macedonia, which is causing concern in Belgium and Germany and could endanger the EU visa liberalisation scheme introduced last year. EU home affairs commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom has written to Serbian and Macedonian ministers responsible for interior affairs – Ivica Dacic and Gordana Jankolovska – to say their countries could lose permission for citizens to travel in the EU without a visa. A rise in asylum applications could risk visa privileges for some Balkan states (Photo: johnnyalive) She said the EU Commission, together with the Belgian EU Presidency, is considering organising a high-level mission later this month to confirm the situation on the ground. "Almost 10 months have passed since the visa obligation for entering EU Schengen countries was lifted for citizens of your country," wrote Ms Malmstrom. "Some member states are once again experiencing an alarming increase of persons coming from your country and seeking asylum. This trend is extremely worrying and might seriously jeopardise the entire process of visa liberalisation in the Western Balkans." Ms Malmstrom's letters – seen by WAZ.EUobserver, and which are largely identical – are a double warning. The situation could lead to a renewed visa regime for Serbian and Macedonian citizens, but it could also delay an EU decision to lift the visa regime for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Albania. "As you know, a post-visa liberalisation monitoring process has been put in place by the commission service since January 2010. Consideration is now being given to further step up this process, so as to enable the EU to take appropriate action if difficulties persist," wrote Ms Malmstrom. Germany and Belgium are the most concerned EU member states. Joachim Herrmann, interior minister of the southern German regional state of Bavaria, signalled willingness to lobby for a withdrawal of the visa waiver agreements with Macedonia and Serbia. "If this development continues, the European Union must act and reintroduce compulsory visas for these countries," he said in a statement issued on Tuesday (19 October). Mr Herrmann presented figures showing a marked increase in asylum applications in Bavaria. Serbian applications have risen from 59 in 2009 to 130 in 2010, while Macedonian ones have shot up from just one to 260. Last month, most asylum seekers in Germany came from Serbia, followed by Afghanistan and Macedonia. The Bavarian minister described the situation as "an obvious abuse of our asylum legislation." Chances to get an application granted for legal right to remain in the country are extremely low for both Balkan groups in Germany, with an approval rate of only 0.3 percent among Macedonians and 1.2 percent among Serbs in 2010. Belgium is also alarmed. The country's immigration minister Melchior Wathelet travelled to Macedonia and Serbia for the second time this year for meetings with local authorities and the government. In July and August, 210 Macedonians, 387 Serbs and 736 Kosovars requested asylum in Belgium and the numbers continue to rise. "It is important to act before the number explodes," said the ministry's spokesman. The numbers first rose in January and February 2010, a few weeks after visa liberalisation agreements came into force. At the time, Belgian prime minister Yves Leterme visited Belgrade and Skopje to nudge his counterparts into action. Some successful efforts were made to stop the flow of applicants at the beginning of the year but, according to diplomats, the measures were not continued. On Thursday, Mr Wathelet will be visiting the Kumanovo region in northern Macedonia where most of the country's predominantly Roma and Albanian asylum seekers come from. The message he intends to deliver is that EU countries are not willing to grant asylum to those who flee their country for economic reasons. But Zekir Kazimovski, from the NGO United Roma Community, said he could understand the migrants' motives. "The situation in the region and in the country pushes Roma to leave their homes and search better life elsewhere. The country does not answer the needs of this poor group of the population. They have enormous difficulties when winter advances, not only with heating but also with food or clothes," said Mr Kazimovski, adding that a hundred Roma families have already left the town. http://waz.euobserver.com/887/31092
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