Video: https://youtu.be/AKJa74uyWe4
Dear all,
It was a pleasure for me to be here in Sofia today to attend the annual EU-Western Balkans JHA Ministerial and to discuss issues related to migration, borders and security with my colleagues from this important region.
The EU and the Western Balkans are important partners when it comes to all these issues.
We all face the same challenges.
We discussed several issues related to migration and border management focussing on the smuggling phenomenon, as well as terrorism and radicalisation.
Even if the Western Balkan route is relatively stable today and secondary irregular migration flows have subsided, the organised crime groups and smugglers have not stopped their operations.
We discussed cooperation with Europol and I encouraged my ministerial colleagues to work closely with Europol to target and dismantle organised crime networks responsible for facilitating this activity.
We also discussed the implementation of readmission agreements between the Western Balkan countries and the EU, which is an important tool to reduce irregular migration.
On the visa-free travel regime, it is clear from today’s meeting that we all remain committed to safeguarding mobility between the EU and the Western Balkans, while limiting abuses.
The updated visa suspension mechanism is a tool that we have at hand, but one that we don’t need to use at this stage – and it’s in everyone’s interest that it stays that way.
In parallel, by 2021 the new European Travel Information and Authorisation System will become operational, which will also help us to limit security or irregular migration risks.
I know there have been some misunderstandings in recent media, so let me be very clear once again.
We have every intention to preserve our proximity and partnership, and to facilitate mobility and people-to-people contact between the EU and the Western Balkans.
The purpose of ETIAS is to strengthen our capacity, to manage the security or migration risks, while enhancing mobility – not limiting it.
I have said it before and I repeat it again: ETIAS is not a visa.
It is a simple and cheap security mechanism that applies to ALL countries whose citizens travel visa-free to the Schengen area.
Citizens from visa free countries will still be able to travel without a visa but will have to obtain a simple, quick and cheap travel authorisation prior to their travel to the Schengen Area.
The Commission will soon also adopt a report on the implementation of the visa-free regime.
We also discussed ongoing negotiations with several Western Balkan countries to launch joint operations under the European Border and Coast Guard’s new mandate.
We have already started negotiations with Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and recently the Commission was granted a mandate to launch similar negotiations with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.
Since our previous meeting a year ago, in Brdo, the EU has taken firm action against the threat of terrorism and radicalisation.
We have enhanced security at the external borders, improved information exchange, closed down the space in which terrorists operate and taken measures to prevent radicalisation both on-line and off-line.
Our joint cooperation with the Western Balkans remains essential in this regard and I welcome the fact that our partnership in this area has been strengthened.
We need to further build on this, particularly on issues such as countering radicalisation, foreign terrorist fighters, and fire arms trafficking.
Both on countering radicalisation as well as addressing the issue of returning foreign fighters, we face the same challenges.
We are cooperating on several levels, including through the Radicalisation Awareness Network, and we need to reinforce that cooperation.
Since our joint statement on fire arms trafficking, progress has been achieved on many fronts.
We are implementing all the actions that we agreed on last year.
However, more needs to done on sharing intelligence, strengthening and enforcing the law and improving stockpile management and preventing theft.
I am encouraged today by the continuous commitment and engagement of our partners to continue making efforts on all fronts, ranging from migration, to border management and increasing security.
The deployment of Europol and European Border and Coast Guard liaison officers with a regional mandate will certainly only contribute to such efforts.
With every year that we meet, our partnership only grows closer – paving the European path for the Western Balkans.