Vice President of the European Commission Margaritas Skinas paid a two-day visit to Serbia during which he said that the European Commission will continue to help Serbia when it comes to migration management and reiterated that the doors of the European Union remain open to Serbia.
"The enlargement process must not be slowed down and I express the full support of the European Commission to that process. We want Serbia to be part of the European family, especially in these difficult times", said Skinas after the meeting with the Prime Minister of Serbia Ana Brnabić.
He added that Serbia did a significant part of the work during the migrant crisis in 2015 and 2016 and that the EU will continue to support Serbia in these efforts.
"Thanks to Serbia and the engagement of Frontex, we managed to deal with the dramatic scenes we saw on the Balkan route. Now, the number of people on that route is growing again and we have to be ready to respond to that. On behalf of the European Commission, I want to publicly praise the fact that Serbia will harmonize its visa regime with the EU," said Commissioner Skinas.
During Skinas's visit, a new aid package in the field of migration was signed, which the European Union intended for Serbia, and which amounts to more than 57.25 million euros. Part of the direct aid will be received by the Commissionerate for Migration, in the amount of 36 million euros, while the rest will go to the needs of providing health and social protection of migrants, education, etc.
The Prime Minister of Serbia, Ana Brnabić, thanked for the direct assistance that Serbia received from the European Union.
"Since 2015, the EU has donated more than 160 million euros to increase our capacity to protect borders, prevent illegal migration, and manage migration. With this new package, along with other announcements, that aid will soon grow to 200 million euros. During the migrant crisis, Serbia showed that it shares European values, that it is ready to take responsibility and showed the face of humanity and empathy," said Prime Minister Brnabić.
She also stated that there are twice as many migrants in Serbia today than in the same period last year, and that members of Frontex, in addition to the border with Bulgaria, will also be deployed on the border with North Macedonia.
During the visit, Skinas also met with the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, with whom he discussed ways to strengthen cooperation between the EU and Serbia on the issue of migration.
The Vice President of the European Commission is in Belgrade for two days as part of his Balkan tour, and last night he also visited the Asylum Center in Obrenovac, from where he said that no one can answer the challenges of migration alone, but that cooperation and joint work are necessary.