Dimitris Avramopolous, the European Commissioner for Migration, praised the downward trend in illegal migration from Kosovo, saying visa liberalisation with the EU was in reach.

The EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos, lauded the recent drop in illegal migration to EU countries.

Speaking during a visit to Kosovo on Tuesday, he said: “Detections of irregular border crossings of Kosovo citizens at the Serbian Hungarian border has dropped in the past month from 1,400 to 15 a day. This is a spectacular outcome.”

The Commissioner said that although recent awareness campaigns in Kosovo about the perils of illegal migration seemed to be succeeding, now was the time to reflect on “why these citizens decided to leave and why they see no perspective here”.

Turning to the vexed issue of visa liberalisation with the EU, which is one factor behind illegal migration from Kosovo, Avramopolous encouragingly said that Kosovo was “walking the last mile towards visa free status,” but that corruption and organized crime needed to be dealt with seriously.

“Only with real results in high profile corruption and organized crime cases and in credible measures to prevent a repeat of the current migration crisis will I be personally able to throw my weight behind persuading member states that Kosovo citizens should indeed become visa free,” Avramopolous said.

Kosovo has seen a sharp spike in illegal migration to EU countries in recent months. Kosovars of various social backgrounds have been illegally crossing the Serbia-Hungary border with the hope of seeking asylum in EU countries – most often Germany and Austria.

Most asylum applications are routinely refused on the grounds that Kosovo is a safe country and their migration is see as driven by economic circumstances rather than by well founded claims to persecution.