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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Capacity for migrant crisis management improved

Belgrade, 9 October 2017

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Nebojsa Stefanovic spoke today with European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides and informed him about all aspects of the management of the migrant crisis.

Christos Stylianides, left, and Nebojsa Stefanovic

Stefanovic informed Stylianides about the efforts that the Serbian Ministry of the Interior has taken to prevent the smuggling of people and the illegal crossing of the state border.

The Minister of the Interior stressed that due to the joint work of the police and the prosecutor's office, 38 persons were sentenced to a total of 56 years and 2 months in prison for the smuggling of 613 people.

He added that a large amount of money was confiscated, as well as passenger vehicles and mobile phones.

Stefanovic thanked the European Commission for a donation of €1.7 million for the implementation of the project "Special measures 1", aimed at strengthening the capacity of the Serbian Ministry of the Interior to respond to crisis situations and to increased migration flows through our country.

Stylianides noted that with every visit to the Republic of Serbia, he realises that the EU funds are properly used, that the capacities for managing the migration crisis have been strengthened, the migrants taken care of, human rights respected, and that the Serbian police treats the migrants in a humane way.

He also agreed that right now the most important is to prevent organised smuggling of people through Serbia to EU countries.

Stefanovic and Stylianides also expressed satisfaction with the high degree of cooperation and participation of representatives of the Serbian Ministry of the Interior in actions that are activated through the Civil Protection Mechanism of the European Union, as well as with the assistance provided by the European Union to Serbia during floods and other natural disasters.

According to Stefanovic, the Ministry of the Interior will continue to invest in the emergency situations management to improve working conditions, better equipment and strengthening of the capacity of human resources.

Stefanovic added that cooperation with the European Union will continue through the Civil Protection Mechanism.

The European Commissioner said he expects that the Republic of Serbia, taking into account the results and efforts it is making, will be the first candidate country to become a full member of the European Union, according to a statement from the Ministry of the Interior.