Prime Minister Ana Brnabic and Vice-President of the European Commission Margaritis Schinas attended today at the Serbian government a ceremony of signing an agreement on a European Union (EU) grant to the Serbian Commissariat for Refugees and Migration.

 

The agreement was signed by Commissioner for Refugees and Migration Natasa Stanisavljevic and Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Emanuele Giaufret.

 

After the meeting with Schinas and the signing of the agreement, Brnabic stated that since the start of the migrant crisis in 2015 until today, including the grant agreement worth €36 million signed today, the EU has helped Serbia with €200 million for strengthening institutional capacity for migration management.

 

The Prime Minister stated that since the start of the crisis, over 1.5 million migrants passed through Serbia and over 10 million overnight stays were made.

 

The EU helped us a lot in all this, since 2015 it donated more than €160 million to strengthen our institutional capacity for migration management and for prevention of illegal migration. Of that sum, €130 million is for strengthening capacity for migration management and around €30 million for border security, the Prime Minister pointed out.

 

She warned that this year the volume of migration has increased by more than 100 percent in relation to last year.

 

The aim of the visit of the European Commission’s Vice-President is to examine once more what we can do to boost our safety and strengthen our borders, Brnabic said and reiterated that by year’s end Serbia will harmonise its visa policy with that of the EU.

 

Schinas voiced hope that Serbia will soon become a part of the European family and added that the EU gives support to Serbia in tackling migration issues.

 

Serbia has taken huge steps towards reconciliation and creation of future with Europe and this momentum should not slow down, Schinas noted and added that he can confirm that Serbia is fully committed to the process of accession to the EU.

 

We have a post-pandemic migration boom, the number of migrants is growing and we should find a way how to solve this. The EU will continue to help Serbia with the migration problem, and my presence is a proof of that. Another concrete proof is the signing of this new package of financial assistance of €36 million which will help increase Serbia’s operational capacity for solving the migration problem, the European Commission’s Vice-President underlined.

 

He added that this financial assistance is part of a greater package worth €57 million for migration management and strengthening of judiciary capacity too in order to solve problems of migration and asylum.