Law enforcement in Europe

Citizens of Turkey and Kosovo are still spending time and money applying for visas to enter Europe's Schengen zone. Kosovars see light at the end of the tunnel, but a growing proportion of Turkish applications are being rejected.

Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said he expects Romania - after more than a decade of waiting - to enter the EU's Schengen area before the end of the year. This will eliminate the long wait at Romania's borders with other EU countries and increase its attractiveness for foreign investors.

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Bulgaria has blocked about 50,000 IP addresses and 500 domains from Russia and Belarus, from which hacker attacks were attempted. This was announced by Deputy Interior Minister Tanya Raycheva during an informal meeting of the Council "Justice and Internal Affairs".

Prague – Interior Minister Tanja Bobnar attended an informal EU ministerial in Prague on Monday, telling her colleagues from the other EU members that the Slovenian police had not yet detected major security threats stemming from the war in Ukraine. However, the police is paying close attention including because of potential human trafficking.

"We are convinced that Croatia meets all the conditions to enter Schengen and we will do everything possible during our presidency ... to help it join from next year," Fiala told reporters after a meeting with his Croatian counterpart Andrej Plenkovic in Prague.

Türkiye presented a report on the visa difficulties experienced by Turkish citizens when entering European Union member countries to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

Schengen visa refusals to Turkish citizens rose from 4 percent in 2014 to 12.7 percent in 2020, according to the report.

Ljubljana – Interior Minister Tatjana Bobnar reiterated Slovenia’s position of opposing Austria’s border checks on their joint border on Thursday, nearly a fortnight after an Austrian administrative court decided that the border checks, which have been in place since 2017, are unlawful.

According to him, he has not yet decided whether he will go to the summit, and before making a decision, he will talk with the leaders of the Open Balkans, as well as with members of the Serbian Government.

The Open Balkans initiative members held another meeting last week in Ohrid, North Macedonia.

Representatives of Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia signed another set of documents - an agreement on recognition of diplomas and three memoranda of understanding on various topics.

It's always a good idea to come to the fresh air and crystalline waters of Lake Ohrid, one of the most beautiful places in Europe.  Unfortunately, the reason for last week's gathering of leaders from the region - 'Open Balkan' - is not a good idea. In fact, it's not even a good name.