European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs, and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos called on Balkan states to cooperate with the EU in reducing the number of asylum seekers leaving their countries for the EU. The commissioner’s comments came after the release of a new report showing that the number of asylum seekers from the region increased 40% between 2013 and 2014. EU authorities rejected a majority of those asylum claims.
The report revealed that the number of asylum applications submitted in the EU had steadily risen since the visa regime was liberalised in 2009 and 2010.
The EU has issued a list of recommendations calling on Balkan countries to take decisive moves to curb the numbers.
“Each Western Balkan visa-free country must be able to show a sustained downward trend in the number of unfounded asylum applications submitted in EU Member States,” the Commission wrote.
