Brussels, 3 October 2022
With irregular border crossings along the Western Balkan route continuing to rise, Vice-President Schinas is undertaking a series of visits to engage with Western Balkan partners to better understand the situation on the ground and to explore how best to address it in a spirit of cooperation.
The Vice-President is today in Skopje, North Macedonia where he will meet with Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski, Deputy Prime Minister for EU Affairs Bojan Marichikj and Minister of Interior Oliver Spasovski. He will continue his travels to Belgrade, Serbia on Thursday 6 October, Tirana, Albania on Friday 7 October and Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina on Monday 10 October. The Vice-President’s visits come ahead of the informal Justice and Home Affairs Council due to take place on 14 October, before which Commissioner Johansson will meet with the most affected EU Member States. Given the sharp increase of arrivals, the Commission decided in September 2022 to activate the EU migration preparedness and crisis management (Blueprint) network to address the situation with increased vigilance.
Source – EU Commission