EU Mulls Slapping Visas on Balkans Again

The EU’s Justice and Home Affairs Council will discuss the new mechanism on Thursday after it was drawn up by the European Commission.

The so-called “post-visa liberalisation monitoring mechanism” is meant to serve “as an early warning system for EU member states in case of a massive influx of asylum applicants", the press release from the Council read.

This move comes after several EU states, including Austria, Germany and France, last year raised a alarm, saying too many asylum-seekers were arriving from Balkan countries.

Most were ethnic minority residents of impoverished areas of Serbia and Macedonia and people from Kosovo.

The EU lifted visa requirements for Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro in 2009. The same privilege was extended to Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2010. The original intention was to free up travel for tourists and businessman from the Balkans.

The new planned measure “does not mean that visas will be reintroduced”, the Italian Foreign Minister, Franco Frattini, told the Serbian media on Wednesday. The mechanism would only be activated in case of an emergency. Last year, Brussels pressed Serbia and Macedonia to address the underlying issues prompting the influx, in order to discourage so many people from leaving.

Macedonia and Serbia responded by threatening to penalise or shut down travel agencies that encouraged people from poor regions to head West in expectation of an instant better life there.

Belgrade and Skopje have been urged also to better inform people that the new visa-free regime applies for short-term tourist and business visits only; people should not abuse the new system to seek jobs or asylum in the EU.