The European Commission made public an action plan for
\nthe management of the illegal migrants arriving via the Western Balkans, whose
\nnumbers have reached record-high levels this year. The Commission is thus
\ntrying to alleviate the fears of some EU member countries and to step up
\nnegotiations on the new European Pact on Migration and Asylum.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Western Balkans route has become a major point of
\nmigratory pressure, with the number of irregular migrants on this route up 168%,
\naccording to Frontex data. The situation raises particular concerns in Central
\nEuropean countries like Austria and the Czech Republic, which have strengthened
\nborder controls. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In the first 10 months of this year a total of over 280,000
\nillegal EU arrivals have been detected, more than 120,000 of which were on the
\nWestern Balks route. The EC plan comprises operational measures structured into
\n5 pillars: strengthening border management, swift asylum procedures and support
\nreception capacity, fighting migrant smuggling, enhancing readmission
\ncooperation and returns as well as achieving visa policy alignment. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Western Balkans countries are urged to align their
\nvisa regimes to the EU visa policy, because there are many cases of migrants
\narriving in Balkan countries that do not require visas, and from there they
\nmove illegally into Western Europe. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
On the other hand, EU policymakers are confident that
\nonly an agreement like the European Pact on Migration and Asylum, first
\npresented in September 2020, is able to meet the challenges created by the
\nmigration wave. However, member states have reserves concerning the refugee
\ndistribution mechanisms, which is why the initiative has not been adopted to
\ndate. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Unlike in 2016, the current plan does not explicitly
\nstipulate refugee quotas, but it introduces a mandatory solidarity mechanism
\nunder which the Commission would still be able to set quotas for EU member
\nstates, depending on their population and economic development. The alternative
\nfor these countries would be other types of contributions, such as financing
\nand repatriation of rejected asylum seekers, or the construction of refugee
\ncamps. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Romania welcomed the European Commission’s Action Plan
\non the Western Balkans, and voiced confidence that the proposed measures and
\ninstruments are able to respond to concerns related to arrivals on the Western
\nBalkans route this year, including those expressed by Austria. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Vienna is reluctant to accepting Romania and Bulgaria
\ninto the Schengen area, for reasons related to the management of migration
\nflows. Romania reiterates its willingness to make active and substantial
\ncontributions to the implementation of the measures proposed by the European
\nCommission, in close cooperation with its other EU partners and in the spirit
\nof solidarity and responsibility. (AMP)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Managing illegal migration is a concern for the European Commission<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":93940,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[32220,29612,29723,29120,32451,35727,29613,40735],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-93939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-asylum","tag-border","tag-controls","tag-eu","tag-illegal","tag-management","tag-migrants","tag-pact"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n