Monday

4th Dec 2023

EU-bound migrants in Serbia risk winter exposure

  • Discarded ID papers on Serbia-Hungary border (Photo: Eszter Zalan)

Serbia’s inability to house asylum seekers in the upcoming winter months is causing concern as Hungary scrambles to complete its 175km razor-wire fence on the shared border.

Up to three thousand asylum seekers, many coming from war-torn Syria, are expected to transit through the Western Balkans on a daily basis up until November.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

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

... or subscribe as a group

Vladimir Petronijevic, executive director at the Belgrade-based migration centre Grupa 484, told this website on Wednesday (26 August) the situation risks becoming dramatic.

“We still have no centres, which are ready to accept people in winter”, he said.

“There was an announcement by the Serbian prime minister that one centre will be opened in Belgrade, maybe a few more, but for me it is difficult to assess whether it will be sufficient”.

Few people bother applying for asylum in Serbia. Petronijevic says there are only around 300 to 400 claims.

Instead, the vast majority of those crossing in from Macedonia aim to reach northern European countries like Germany or Sweden.

Hungary may deploy troops

But first they must enter Hungary, a country whose right-wing government has decided to shut down its border.

It recently amended legislation that designates Serbia as a safe third country.

“They can basically very quickly send people who have transited through Serbia back to Serbia”, said Kris Pollet, a senior policy officer at the Brussels-based European Council on Refugees and Exiles.

On Wednesday, Reuters reported Hungarian authorities may send in the army at its southern extremity, along with civilian helicopters, dogs, and mounted police.

“Hungary’s government and national security cabinet ... has discussed the question of how the army could be used to help protect Hungary’s border and the EU’s border”, said government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs.

He said parliament would discuss the issue next week. Similar comments on use of troops were made Tuesday by Czech president Milos Zeman. Bulgaria has already sent military units to Macedonia crossing points.

The number of people slipping under or around the reels of razor-wire coil on the Hungarian-Serb border has increased sharply over the past few days.

Over 2,500 managed to cross from Serbia since the start of the week.

Hungary’s sudden move to step up border security comes amid an announcement by the European Commission, ahead of a conference on the Western Balkans in Vienna on Thursday, it’ll pay €1.5 million in migration aid to Macedonia and Serbia.

Austria’s foreign minister Sebastian Kurz and his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in a joint op-ed published Wednesday at the Nezavisne novine daily, said “the region’s stability still rests on shaky foundations, and largely depends on support by the European Union”.

Migration hijacks EU-Balkan summit

With Hungary threatening to send in troops along its border with Serbia, the summit on the Western Balkans in Vienna is likely to be dominated by migration.

Opinion

Fighting the prejudice

Instead of outrage at the desperate people who are trying to reach Europe’s shores, public anger might be better directed at the prejudice which people from certain religions or with a certain skin colour face every day.

Analysis

How Wilders' Dutch extremism goes way beyond Islamophobia

Without losing sight of his pervasive Islamophobia, it is essential to note Geert Wilders' far-right extremism extends to other issues that could drastically alter the nature of Dutch politics — and end its often constructive role in advancing EU policies.

Latest News

  1. EU-China summit and migration files in focus This WEEK
  2. COP28 debates climate finance amid inflated accounting 'mess'
  3. Why EU's €18m for Israel undermines peace
  4. Israel's EU ambassador: 'No clean way to do this operation'
  5. Brussels denies having no 'concern' on Spain's amnesty law
  6. Dubai's COP28 — a view from the ground
  7. Germany moves to criminalise NGO search-and-rescue missions
  8. Israel recalls ambassador to Spain in new diplomatic spat

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  3. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  4. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?
  5. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  6. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us