Balkan States Expand Extradition Agreements

balkan insight
11 JUL 2011 / 08:43

Regional leaders are strengthening extradition agreements to prevent citizens holding dual citizenship from fleeing to another country to avoid prosecution at home.

Tanjug, MINA

Justice ministers from Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia have agreed in principle to expand existing extradition treaties. According to the ministers, an expert group will work out the details....more....
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/balkan-countries-expand-extradition-agreements

Albania and Serbia lift visas

se times
09/07/2011

Kosovo institutions welcome any agreement that serves the free movement of citizens and exchange of trade and ideas between the people in the Balkans, Kosovo Deputy Foreign Minister Petrit Selimi told SETimes.
By Linda Karadaku for Southeast European Times in Tirana -- 09/07/11
Albania and Serbia lifted visas on each other's citizens on Tuesday (July 5th), in a step widely seen in the context of a more relaxed atmosphere and co-operation between the two countries.

Albania's Foreign Ministry said the agreement -- signed by the Albanian Deputy Foreign minister Selim Belortaja and Serb Ambassador in Tirana Miroljub Zaric -- "is based on the principles of full reciprocity between the two states, the good will and the mutual co-operation."...more....
read more: se times
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2011/07/09/feature-01

ESI: Balkan States Not Curbing Asylum Wave

balkan insight
07 JUL 2011 / 10:41

The European Stability Initiative, ESI, says measures taken to curb the number of asylum seekers from Macedonia and Serbia are proving ineffective.

Bojana Barlovac Belgrade
The European Stability Initiative, ESI, a think tank, has presented its findings on the wave of Balkan asylum seekers, criticising the measures that Serbia and Macedonia have taken to reduce the influx. The report is to be released in the coming days....more....
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/eu-ministers-should-curb-balkan-asylum-seekers

Belgium Says Macedonia is Curbing Asylum Seekers

balkan insight
01 JUL 2011 / 16:06

Belgian minister says Skopje's efforts to stop asylum-seekers from flooding into Western Europe are bearing results.
Skopje

Belgian statistics show that the number of migrants from Macedonia fell significantly in June, the country's migration minister, Melkior Vatle, said....more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/macedonia-praised-for-curbing-asylum-seekers

Ever-closer asylum

the economist
Asylum-seeking Serbs

Jun 27th 2011, 16:51 by T.J.

TWO years ago I was in the southern Serbian town of Presevo. I listened to the familiar complaints of a local Roma family, who were unhappy about their housing and the lack of local jobs. As I left, the boy in the picture above sidled up to me wielding a freshly issued official certificate, a copy of which the family had just obtained.

Maybe he needed it to help obtain a new biometric Serbian passport. In December 2009, citizens of Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia were granted the long-coveted right to visa-free travel in Europe’s Schengen zone. Last December Bosnia and Albania were added to the list. Kosovo remains excluded....more....
read more: the economist
http://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2011/06/asylum-seeking-serbs

Serbia has most refugees and IDPs in Europe

serbianna.com
June 20, 2011 – 7:10 am

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php?yyyy=2011&mm=06&dd=20&nav_id=75016
BELGRADE — With its 275,000 refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), Serbia is ranked first in Europe and 13th in the world, UNHCR data for 2010 show.read more: serbianna.com...more...
read more: serbianna.com
http://serbianna.com/blogs/michaletos/archives/1036

Number of Serbian Asylum Seekers in Germany Falls

balkan insight
22 JUN 2011 / 17:48

Serbia, which used to be the leading country in the world in terms of the number of asylum requests, now ranks in fifth place after Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Iran.

Tanjug
A total of 138 Serbian citizens requested asylum in Germany in May, which marks a considerable fall from the 334 recorded in March and 227 in April, the German Interior Ministry stated....more....
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/serbia-declines-on-global-ranking-of-asylum-seekers

No Visa-Free Suspension for Serbia, Macedonia

balkan insight
10 JUN 2011 / 14:13


The EU said on Thursday that Serbia and Macedonia "have made some progress" in cutting down on asylum seekers, calming fears that bloc would propose a temporary suspension of the visa-free regime.


Bojana Barlovac Belgrade

EU interior and justice ministers, who met in Luxembourg on Thursday, did not discuss a temporary suspension of the visa-free regime for the Western Balkan countries over the number of asylum seekers coming from Serbia and Macedonia....more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/eu-to-remain-visa-free-regime-for-western-balkan-countries

EU satisfied with measures against false asylum seekers

blic online

MILICA DELEVIC, HEAD OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION OFFICE

| 10. 06. 2011. - 00:02h | Comments 0 

Milica Delevic, Director of Serbia Government’s office for European integration said yesterday that ‘the EU has been exposed to larger migration pressures in recent time’ but that ‘at this moment it is satisfied with measures undertaken by Serbia against false asylum seekers’....more...
read more: blic online
http://english.blic.rs/News/7737/EU-satisfied-with-measures-against-false-asylum-seekers

Serbia Strained by Asylum Seeker Spike

balkan insight
09 Jun 2011 / 08:00

While Serbians have hit the lists of top asylum seekers in the world, the number of people requesting asylum in Serbia is on the rise as well.

Bojana Barlovac

Belgrade

A total of 976 requests for political asylum were sent to the Serbian government between Jan 1 - May 31 this year, or five times more than during the same period in 2010, according to an UNHCR report presented in Belgrade on Tuesday. ....more....

read more: balkan insisght
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/serbia-getting-strained-by-asylum-seeker-spike

Kosovo’s Visa Liberalization Troubles: Trying to Get to Heaven Before They Close the Door

balkan analysis

May 29, 2011

By Maja Šoštarić in Prishtina
Anyone who has seen the classic 1956 movie “The Searchers,” starring John Wayne and Natalie Wood, must remember the scene where Wayne carries Wood after finally having found her. At the end of his restless quest, he looks her deep in the eye and tells her the following memorable words: “Let’s go home, Debbie.”
Kosovo can perhaps be compared to Natalie Wood in that scene, since the youngest world’s country often needs a strong cowboy to make sure things go back to normal. The real question is then: is the EU that cowboy, or should it become one?...more....

read more: balkan analysis
http://www.balkanalysis.com/kosovo/2011/05/29/kosovo%e2%80%99s-visa-liberalization-troubles-trying-to-get-to-heaven-before-they-close-the-door/

EU not looking at countries as problems

blic online

Is Serbia responsible again?

Tamara Spaić

24. 05. 2011. - 00:02h
Komentara: 0

BRUSSELES/BELGRADE – ‘The EU is not speaking about the countries of the Balkans as problems. They all have European perspective but each of them has specific problems and all of them still have a lot of work to do’, Maja Kocijancic, spokeswoman of Catherine Ashton, High EU representative for foreign affairs says for ‘Blic’ referring to recent statements that Serbia is one of the biggest problems in the region....more...

read more: blic online
http://english.blic.rs/News/7672/EU-not-looking-at-countries-as-problems

Serbian asylum seekers jeopardising visa liberalisation

se times
23/05/2011

Serbia is working to stem the flow of bogus asylum seekers, who threaten Schengen access.
By Biljana Pekusic for Southeast European Times in Belgrade – 23/05/11
Due to the torrent of Serbians seeking asylum in EU member countries, Brussels has warned Belgrade that the future of visa-free travel in the Schengen area is at risk.

Visa requirements were lifted for citizens of Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro in December 2009. Over the course of the following 12 months, 17,000 people from Serbia requested asylum in the EU, mostly in Sweden, Belgium and Germany. ...more...
read more: se times
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2011/05/23/feature-03

EU Proposes Mechanism to Suspend Visa-Free Regime

balkan insight
24 May 2011 / 15:31

The European Commission proposed on Monday a mechanism that would allow the EU to suspend the visa-free regime for certain states under "exceptional" circumstances.
Lucy Sommo

The Commission proposed the "safeguard clause", which will go to EU ministers for discussion in June, in the wake of growing pressure on Macedonia and Serbia to stem the flow of asylum seekers into Europe that began after the countries were granted visa free travel in December 2009....more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/eu-proposes-mechanism-to-suspend-visa-free-regime

Macedonia Steps Up Penalties for Visa Abusers

balkan insight
19 May 2011 / 12:40

In an attempt to curb recent waves of asylum seekers fleeing the country for EU states, Macedonia is stepping up penalties for citizens who abuse the visa-free regime.
Sinisa Jakov Marusic

Skopje
In an effort to ward off a possible temporary reinstatement of visas for Macedonians and Serbians over the asylum issue, Skopje has proposed changes to the country's penal code.
The proposed changes include prison sentences of four to eight years for those who organise shelter or transport individuals to the EU and Schengen member countries for personal gain....more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/macedonia-steps-up-punishment-for-visa-liberalization-abusers

Asylum Row Damages Kosovo's EU Visa Hopes

balkan insight
18 May 2011 / 08:35
Anger over wave of asylum-seekers from Serbia and Macedonia is bound to impact on Kosovo's chances of persuading the EU to ease visa requirements, Brussels MEP warns.
Petrit Collakuread more: balkan insight

Pristina
The recent wave of asylum-seekers from Serbia and Macedonia hitting Belgium and Sweden is bound to negatively affect Kosovo's chances of obtaing a new visa-free regime with the European Union, Ulrike Lunacek, the European Parliament’s rapporteur for Kosovo, said....more...

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/visa-lift-regime-for-serbia-and-macedonia-can-hit-kosovo

Asylum seekers may cost Serbia EU visa liberalization

serbianna.com
May 11, 2011 – 10:37 am




ISA Intel
May 10, 2011
As a direct result of the increasing number of asylum seekers to EU countries, Serbia may be removed from the white Schengen list and visa-free travel to EU countries, which was put into effect only in late 2009.
Some EU countries have threatened to request Serbia’s removal from the list unless it can exponentially reduce the number of false asylum seekers.
This is a major blow for the ruling coalition led by Serbian President Boris Tadic, which had based its platform largely on the success stories of European integration.
In December 2009 the EU lifted visa restrictions for citizens of Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia, allowing them to travel freely in the Schengen zone, which covers a majority of EU countries....more...
read more: serbianna.com
http://serbianna.com/blogs/michaletos/archives/1008

Officials say EU visa situation "serious"

b92.net
Politics

Monday 16.05.2011
11:50 Source: B92, Tanjug

BELGRADE -- Slobodan Homen has said that the situation is serious regarding EU's potential reintroduction of visas for Serbia because of fake asylum seekers.
But the state secretary at the Justice Ministry and government coordinator for public relations told B92 TV late on Sunday that "it does not mean it is going to happen soon". ...more...
read more: b92.net
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2011&mm=05&dd=16&nav_id=74357

"Governments should prevent visa liberalization abuse"

b92.net
Politics

Sunday 15.05.2011
16:42
Source: Dnevnik, Tanjug

NOVI SAD -- EP official Tanja Fajon says that governments of southeast European countries should have done much more to prevent visa liberalization abuse. ...more...
read more: b92.net
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2011&mm=05&dd=15&nav_id=74354

Deputy PM: Number of false asylum seekers decreases

b92.net
Politics

Saturday 14.05.2011
12:33
Source: Tanjug

NOVI SAD -- Serbian Deputy PM and Interior Minister Ivica Dačić stated Friday in Novi Sad that Serbia was doing its best to prevent false asylum seekers from going abroad. ...more...
read more: b92.net
http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2011&mm=05&dd=14&nav_id=74329