Germany and Austria: The Balkans Must Take Responsibility for the Refugee Problem

The issue of the increased number of migrants seeking to enter Europe via the "Western Balkan" route will be one of the key topics of today's EU-Western Balkans conference held within the framework of the Berlin Process, and the countries in the region, as well as the EU, share a common responsibility for this challenge, confirmed among others in their joint statement on the conference and its goals by German and Austrian foreign ministers Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Sebastian Kurz, reports the Patria news agency.

The conference will, as they stated, pay special attention to the fact that the Western Balkan route has become the main one in the efforts of an increasing number of migrants to reach Europe, according to their announcement of the conference topics, a joint statement published on Thursday by Ljubljana's "Delo".

"Such developments bring numerous challenges for border control and asylum systems, both in some Western Balkan states and in member states," Steinmeier and Kurz state, adding that the countries in the region must accept responsibility for overcoming these challenges, with the assistance of the EU.

The German and Austrian ministers reiterated the view that the ultimate goal of the Berlin Process, initiated by Germany, is to enable full membership of all Western Balkan states in the European Union, whereby they must continue necessary reforms and stabilize mutual relations.

Despite the difficulties that still exist in this regard, which were evident in this year's events in Srebrenica or regarding the migrant issue, the countries in the region have recorded many things that can be considered successful, especially when it comes to the normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo.

Regarding Macedonia, the heads of diplomacy of Germany and Austria call on all Macedonian parties to enable swift reforms that would allow "free and fair elections" in April next year.

For the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, they assessed that the renewed stronger engagement of the EU has contributed to greater attention being paid to the implementation of reforms that will benefit all people in that country.

All these cases show that there are examples of a "success story" in the region and that the European Union, with its efforts, makes a positive contribution to solving serious challenges, stated Steinmeier and Kurz in their message ahead of the conference in Vienna, writes Index.