There is a real danger the Western Balkan countries could once again require visas to enter the Schengen Area if the problem with fake asylum seekers is not resolved soon, believes the European Parliament’s Rapporteur on visa liberalization Tanja Fajon.
She reminded talks are under way in European institutions on a mechanism for the suspension of visa liberalization.
The European Commission proposed a suspension mechanism in June this year, as a reaction to the wave of asylum seekers traveling to Belgium, Sweden, Luxembourg, Germany, Fajon said in an interview for Belgrade daily Vecernje Novosti.
According to her, if the measure passes, member countries will be able to suspend the visa-free regime for any country, including those in the Western Balkans, first for six months, then for nine, and finally to put the country on the black Schengen list.
The interior ministers of the member countries discussed this on Monday. The same document is also in the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee, and the Foreign Affairs Committee will also give its opinion, she said.
Fajon said the European Commission proposed, among other things, that the rise in asylum seekers must not exceed the average in the last six months prior to the lifting of visas by more than 50 percent.
The new mechanism could come into force when all the details are finalized and it is adopted in the European Parliament and European Council.
I suppose this will happen next year. Member countries are in a big hurry, she said.
Asked if the Western Balkans and Serbia should be worried, she said that considering the current atmosphere in the EU, the situation is serious.
Source: TANJUG
