REFUGEES ARE A MAJOR CHALLENGE FOR BOTH SERBIA AND GERMANY

19. August 2015.

The German Ambassador to Serbia Axel Dittmann visited the Reception Center for Migrants in Presevo and the German police officers who, together with their Serbian colleagues, are engaged in the border area.

“In addition to individual fates of these people, a large number of refugees puts our countries, Serbia, as a country that is on their route, and Germany, as their destination country, before great challenges", said Ambassador Dittmann.

He emphasized that it was, therefore, "essential that each of the two countries accepts its share of responsibility and cooperates closely”. "Reform of the legislation on asylum in Serbia, which is also part of the process of getting closer to the European Union, due to the given situation, is becoming an urgent issue," said Ambassador Dittmann. He added that an analysis, which was currently being prepared by the Government of Serbia, was very important and announced that Germany and the EU would consider it in detail, once it was presented.

In connection with the issue of asylum, the German Ambassador noted that there were still many people from the Western Balkans and Serbia itself seeking asylum in Germany. According to him, over 10, 000 people from Serbia requested asylum in Germany in the first half of 2015.

"It is important that Serbian nationals don’t have false hopes. They have almost no chance of obtaining asylum in Germany. More than 99 cases are rejected and people need to return to Serbia in a very short time", said Ambassador Dittmann.

Source: “Politika” daily and Coordination Body