German government declares Serbia safe country of origin

BERLIN - The German government adopted on Wednesday an asylum bill that declares Serbia a safe country of origin, making asylum requests by Serbian citizens groundless in principle and shortening the procedure of repatriating asylum-seekers.

Also listed as safe countries of origin are Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which confirms that political torture, persecution or abuse of political opponents are non-existent in the three Balkan states and that, as a result, there are no legitimate reasons to file asylum requests, German media reported.

Figures from the federal government in Berlin show that only 60 out of 22,000 asylum requests filed by citizens of Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia were granted last year.

Announcing the changes and an expansion of the list of safe countries of origin, German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere recently said that Serbia is an EU candidate country, while Bosnia and Herzegovina is striving to achieve that status, and that those countries must be expected to treat their citizens well.

The asylum bill will enter into force once it has been passed by the Bundestag and the Bundesrat.

A few years ago, the problem of false asylum seekers, who flocked to Germany to obtain welfare benefits and money, posed a threat to Serbia's visa-free regime with the EU.

AP Photo/Markus Schreiber