TIRANA, July 14 /ATA/-By A. Fortuzi/ – The number of Albanian nationals seeking asylum in the European Union member states kept falling for fourth year in a row, down by 5% in 2019 compared to the applications in 2018.
Deputy Interior Minister Rovena Voda told Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA) on Tuesday that the country has made progress in enhancing public order and security and control of visa-free travel.
Deputy Interior Minister Voda supported her arguments, citing the most recent European Commission Report on Albanian progress towards fulfilment of benchmarks embedded in the Roadmap towards visa free regime.
“The European Commission unveiled the Visa Suspension Mechanism Report on July 10, 2020, which is part of the Commission’s task to assess fulfilment of the visa liberalisation requirements by third countries that have been granted the visa-free regime and to report to the European Parliament and the Council at least once a year,” Voda said.
“Generally speaking, the Report notes that Albania has taken actions identified in the Second Report and the visa liberalisation benchmarks continue to be fulfilled, whereas good progress has been achieved in the implementation of actions to tackle irregular migration, including strengthened border controls, but further efforts are needed to ensure the improvement and the sustainability of results, in particular as regards the unfounded asylum applications and the fight against organised crime,” Voda added.
Citing the report, Deputy Interior Minister also noted that number of asylum applications lodged by Albanian nationals in the Schengen continued to decrease for the fourth year in a row, decreasing by 5% in 2019 as compared to 2018. The Albanian authorities have strengthened efforts to raise awareness among the population on the rights and obligations of the visa-free regime, as well as penalties for violations of these obligations.”
“The Albanian authorities have also strengthened operational cooperation with the EU Member States most affected by irregular migration and unfounded asylum applications and reinforced the checks on Albanian nationals travelling abroad,” she said.
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