Human migration

A significant development unfolded in Silistra, northwestern Bulgaria, where authorities successfully detained a group of eight illegal migrants, marking a crucial step in addressing the ongoing challenges related to illegal migration. The detainees, hailing from Syria and Iraq, included minors and were part of a larger group attempting unauthorized entry into Bulgaria.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya has engaged in a series of bilateral discussions with Greek Shipping and Island Policy Minister Christos Stylianidis, focusing primarily on addressing irregular migration in the Aegean Sea.

Bulgarian border police successfully prevented approximately 180,000 attempts by migrants to enter the country illegally in 2023, according to recent data released by the Interior Ministry on Wednesday.

A significant increase has been recorded in residence permits for British and Israeli investors through the Golden Visa program, alongside the "usual suspects" - i.e. buyers from China.

BELGRADE - Over 50,000 work permits were issued to foreign workers in Serbia last year, and the majority of them were Russians, the Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions of Serbia said on its website, quoting figures released by the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Veteran and Social Affairs.

Legal migration to the European Union will have to increase by 1 million people a year to make up for losses in the bloc's ageing workforce, the EU's home affairs chief said on Monday.

The European Union intends to allocate an additional 2 billion euros by 2027 for the implementation of the new pact on migration and asylum, European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas during a migration conference in Athens on Monday.

The EU member states will need to deal with acute labor shortage issues to counteract demographic decline, stressed the European Union Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson during a visit to Greece on Monday. 

The past year showed that the future of humanity is in the hands of the voters of democratic countries. This year will show which way we are headed. We know how autocratic regimes behave and what their aims are. The great challenges of our time demand virtues that only the voters of free nations can appreciate and choose.

The intense use of new migrant routes from the coasts of Egypt and Libya to Gavdos, just south of Crete, has been recorded in recent months, while increased migration pressure has also been observed in the southeast Aegean and in particular Kos.