Friday

29th Mar 2024

Balkans migrant route in EU spotlight

  • Mogherini said countries in the region showed willingness for joint action on border security (Photo: consilium.europa.eu)

EU foreign and home affairs ministers hosted a meeting on Thursday evening (8 October) with representatives from the Western Balkans and Syria's neighbors, Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, to tackle the tensions arising from the influx of migrants and refugees arriving via this transit route to Europe.

This was the first time ministers have discussed the refugee crisis in this format.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Federica Mogherini, the EU's foreign policy chief said after the meeting that the countries of the region showed willingness for a new start in joint cooperation in managing borders, receptions, assistance and flows of people.

The western Balkans route via Turkey, Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and Hungary has become one of the biggest migratory routes into the European Union.

Nearly 400,000 refugees and migrants fleeing war and persecution have arrived in Greece by crossing the Mediterranean Sea from Turkey this year alone.

Hungary has put up a fence on its southern border with Serbia and another is currently under construction with Croatia, which has put increased pressure on Croatia and Serbia.

The two countries exchanged accusations and briefly closed their borders in an escalation not seen since the Balkan wars of the 1990s.

Mogherini said the "tensions are still very fresh and recent, the balance is delicate", but that there is renewed willingness to cooperate.

"The meeting tonight is a new starting point," she said.

The EU foreign affairs chief said that she also talked privately to the leaders in the region to try to diffuse tensions, "to avoid a verbal or non-verbal escalation, that in that part of Europe is extremely dangerous," she told press after the meeting.

The ministers in the region agreed to work together to start a political process in Syria to end the war, and to support neighbors of Syria that have been hosting millions of refugees in increased humanitarian aid.

The ministers also pledged increased cooperation in managing borders and actions against organised crime.

Germany, a favorite destination for refugees, is particularly unhappy that the Balkan countries are letting people through without registering them.

The talks on Thursday also addressed how to help the capacities in the region for the countries to slow down the influx of people.

On the sidelines on the meeting, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland agreed to participate in protecting the southern borders of Hungary and the Schengen free-travel zone.

EU unveils Turkey migration plan

The Commission has unveiled a plan on how to stem the flow of migrants from Turkey, including extra funds and a joint crackdown on smugglers.

Investigation

How migrants risk becoming drug addicts along Balkan route

Psychotropic drug abuse is one of the many dangers migrants face along the Balkan route. In overcrowded camps, doctors prescribe tranquilisers to calm people down. And black market circuits and pharmacies selling drugs without prescription contribute to the issue.

Investigation

How migrants risk becoming drug addicts along Balkan route

Psychotropic drug abuse is one of the many dangers migrants face along the Balkan route. In overcrowded camps, doctors prescribe tranquilisers to calm people down. And black market circuits and pharmacies selling drugs without prescription contribute to the issue.

Analysis

Election in sight, EU mood music changes on offshoring asylum

Designating a country like Rwanda as 'safe' under EU rules to send an asylum-seeker there requires strict conditions to be met first. But a backdoor clause introduced into EU legislation allows a future commission to strip out those requirements.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us