Head of EU Delegation to Serbia Michael Davenport said that neither closing borders was the right way to respond to challenges posed by refugee crisis, nor was erecting fences and building walls and added that, apart from the EU, entire international community should take part in addressing the crisis.
“Closing borders, erecting fences and walls is not the right way to respond to challenges posed by migrant crisis. We cannot let ourselves fall into trap and should always be aware of EU’s accomplishments,“ Davenport said during panel “Improving European governance model: keeping up with progress“ held within Belgrade Security Forum.
Migrant crisis is, according to him, a major challenge for the EU, but also for entire international community which should take part in resolving this major issue. “Europe has a long tradition of refugee flows, dealt in accordance with tolerance and human rights,“ he said and added that he himself came from a refugee family.
Davenport said that the EU could not do anything if not united on this issue. “EU has institutions and mechanisms, as well as asylum standards, but which are now being put to unprecedented test. It is expected that refugees would be accepted with dignity, in line with common asylum criteria and system for assessment of whether a person is entitled to international protection or not,“ he said and added that European Commission adopted some 30-40 infringement decisions against certain Member States for failing to live up to their commitment in that area. “Number of infringement decisions must be even bigger by now,“ he said adding that it was clear that, if we fail to meet our obligations, we would not make progress.
“Whatever we do, whatever our response to crisis might be, it is necessary to be cautious and in line with human rights,“ he said.
Ambassador Davenport reminded that EU allocated 17 million euros to Serbia and FYROM to support them in tackling refugee crisis, noting it might not be enough.
