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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

No threat of revoking visa liberalisation for Serbia

Belgrade, 21 December 2011

Head of the Border Police Administration of the Ministry of the Interior Nenad Banovic said today that from January to December this year 6,926 Serbian citizens sought asylum in the countries of the EU, which is about 10,500 less than last year.

Nenad Banovic

Banovic said at a press conference of the Commission for monitoring the visa free travel regime with the EU, of which he is the president, that last year this number was 17,715.

He confirmed that at this moment there is no danger of reintroduction of visas to Serbia and pointed out that the government will make every effort to further reduce the number of asylum seekers.

In his opinion, the Commission with its work showed that Serbia takes seriously the issue of false asylum seekers and that with the measures that it took to reduce their number provided an adequate response to European partners and confirmed that our country in this area meets the criteria for candidate status for EU membership.

Banovic specified that the number of asylum seekers in the first seven months of 2011 was declining only to go up again from September onwards, which is why the state once again took certain measures leading to a decrease in their number in November.

The Border Police Administration undertook measures to uncover the persons who organised the transportation of false asylum seekers, he explained, adding that no indicative elements were found during a control of 40 travel agencies and private transporters.

During the first 11 months of 2011 a total of 2,826 Serbian nationals sought asylum in Germany, 2,090 in Sweden, 1,027 in Belgium and 983 in Luxembourg, he specified.

During 2010, there were 6,795 asylum seekers from Serbia in Germany, 6,255 in Sweden, 2,220 in Belgium and 116 in Luxembourg, Banovic recalled.

He stated that based on the readmission agreement, 3,222 asylum seekers have been repatriated by 1 November, while the total number of submitted asylum requests stood at 3,878.