The number of illegal crossings at Serbia-Hungary border, as well as the number of persons from Kosovo and Metohija illegally trying to reach the Schengen zone, increased slightly this Saturday, but, according to the Hungarian police, it is still several times lower compared to last weekend.
Sixteen years after the war in Kosovo sent hundreds of thousands of refugees streaming across the border, another exodus is underway here.
Instead of fleeing conflict, Kosovars are now seeking to escape unemployment, and despair. They are leaving by the tens of thousands, making their way illegally into European Union countries to look for a better future.
Kosovo Prime Minister Isa Mustafa, said on Friday that the issue of irregular migration should be prevented by opening new jobs. "Irregular migration is a painful reality and in this regard we need to take quick measures. We will work to open new jobs and improve the welfare of Kosovo citizens,” said Mustafa. During the meeting of the Steering Committee on visa liberalization, Mustafa announced that the government of Kosovo next week will approve the Governance Program, that will contribute on Kosovo’s economic development.
The spokesperson of the UNHCR in Hungary, Erno Shimun, said on Thursday that migration of Kosovo people has to do with the escape from poverty. He said that the solution of this issue should be discussed at the European level. "According to our experience, migration of Kosovo people has to do with poverty," said Shimun. So for this reason, he said that authorities in Hungary have decided not to give asylum to Kosovars.
On the front-page editorial, the paper writes that the people of Kosovo are continuing to flee poverty and humiliation by trying to illegally enter European Union countries but at the same time, they are also trying to escape from facing their serious problems. Instead of focusing on implementing election promises, government leaders use the dialogue with Belgrade as a way to delay addressing more pressing issues like unemployment, business environment, rule of law, corruption, visa liberalization and so on.
Germany has said it plans to send a number of police officers to join efforts to stem a tide of migrants from Kosovo trying to enter the EU. The exodus is posing problems for both Germany and Kosovo.
Germany's interior ministry announced on Thursday that it was sending 20 Federal Police officers to border between Serbia and Hungary to help control a surge in the number of mainly Albanian Kosovars seeking to enter the European Union. The preferred route sees the Kosovars travel through Serbia before slipping across the border into neighboring EU member state Hungary.
KTV’s editor-in-chief Adriatik Kelmendi writes that in the current situation in Kosovo where thousands are deciding to board buses in search of a better life in the EU, there is a well-organised criminal group which is surprisingly managing to easily convince people that they have to seize the opportunity right now to cross through the so-called open gate to the EU while still open. The relevant authorities - Ministry of Internal Affairs, Kosovo Police, Kosovo Intelligence Agency, EULEX – should find out who is responsible for deceiving people this way and take appropriate measures.
Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga, met on Thursday with United States Deputy Assistant Secretary, Hoyt Yee, with whom she discussed current developments in Kosovo, the normalization of relations with Serbia within the Pristina – Belgrade dialogue and Kosovo’s obligations towards the international community.
Serbian security forces stepped up patrols and deployed an elite unit Wednesday on its border with Hungary, trying to halt a torrent of migrants that has triggered alarm in many European Union countries. The last few months have seen a massive exodus of mostly Kosovo Albanians fleeing poverty and unemployment in search for a better life in the European Union.
The Austrian Ambassador to Kosovo, Johann Brieger told the Austria-based newspaper “Osterreich” that the surge of asylum-seekers from Kosovo, has to do with poverty and unemployment, but also the political crisis. Brieger said that based on the large number of requests for asylum, it can be said that things in Kosovo are not going well. According to him, there is much to be done in terms of economic development. He said that the main reasons for migration are economic and social.