European officials in Vienna: We have an obligation to protect refugees and help them

European leaders who participated in the Western Balkans Summit in Vienna agree that regional cooperation and European integration are the future of this region, writes the Bosnian news agency Patria.

At a press conference, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini said that Vienna was a place where it was shown how relations are improved.

She also referred to the refugee crisis, as in recent days masses of people have been passing through the countries of the Western Balkans fleeing the war in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq...

- We have a legal obligation to protect them. As Europeans, we value and prioritise this. People are coming to Europe, and Europe must protect and help them. The problem is that many understand Europe in different ways. Europe is Brussels, the EU institutions, but also its neighbours. We must fight against human traffickers and illegal migration – Mogherini said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel addressed those present at the press conference and said that will and initiative must be shown for countries that are not members of the European Union, and that this summit greatly helped in developing and establishing cooperation between representatives of the countries that participated.

- We must show will and initiative for countries that are not EU members. A cooperation has developed in the region. Prime Ministers met, talked and solved problems. We had the pleasure of seeing a large number of results significant for all people in the participating countries of the summit.

Commenting on the refugee crisis, Merkel said it must be resolved.

- We are all shocked by the death of 50 refugees because they came into a situation where no one cared for their lives even though they were on their way to find a better life. For us, this means that the issue of migration must be approached in a European spirit. In Germany, we have managed to achieve that we all live together in peace – Merkel said.

Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann said that more responsibility must be taken for refugees.

- Even in World War II, people who were refugees saved their lives thanks to the right to asylum. The issue of refugees and the issue of asylum played an important role during our summit. The Western Balkans Conference, an idea initiated by Angela Merkel, was conceived so that we would have the second conference in Austria, the next one is in France, and then in Italy - Faymann said.

- I thank everyone who attended and organised the Vienna Conference. We must take care of the issue of asylum and ensure that one country does not take on all the responsibility. We must act together, talk together about borders, about the division of responsibility. We must agree on quotas, so that truck drivers are stronger than us who make decisions - Faymann concluded.