EC: Serbia acted constructively, must step up border control

BELGRADE - Serbia has played a constructive role regarding halting asylum seekers from Kosovo, European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos said on Thursday.

Serbia is expected to take resolute action, and in particular, step up control at the Hungarian border in order to solve the problem of Kosovo Albanian migrants, as well as other citizens.

Even though Kosovo dominates the media, Serbian citizens, too, are among the most numerous asylum seekers - taking resolute steps to halt migration from Kosovo and asylum seekers from Serbia is crucial for Serbia for opening Chapter 24 (justice, freedom and security), Avramopoulos said at a joint press conference with Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic.

Serbia must step up control of its border with Hungary and take resolute action to halt human smuggling, he said.

I see that attention is being paid to this and assistance is available from the Austrian and German police and Frontex, Avramopoulos added.

Serbia is also expected to enable the soonest possible return of those whose asylum requests have been denied.

In that context, to tackle the problem of asylum seekers from Kosovo, economic development must be ensured in Kosovo.

We discussed steps that should be taken in the following areas: migration routes must be closed off, but social and cultural inclusion of the Roma population must also be addressed; activities must be expedited in operative cooperation and exchange of information with EU member states, while all smugglers must be arrested and sentenced and border control activities must be stepped up, Avramopoulos said.

The goal is to respect the freedom of movement in the EU, as well as the rights...