FM: EU should deal with Kosovo migration issue

FM: EU should deal with Kosovo migration issue

He addressed reporters during a joint news conference in Budapest with Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto.

Referring to the recent mass migration of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo who are leaving for western Europe via central Serbia and Hungary, Dacic said this issue was not only for the two countries, "but also for the EU."

The minister noted that according to the agreement, Serbia is under obligation to allow "citizens of Kosovo" to pass through - though "it does not consider their documents valid as it does not recognize Kosovo as an independent state." According to Dacic, what was previously interpreted as a great success has now proved to be "a great opportunity for abuse."

"Neither Serbia, nor, I'm guessing, Hungary, are the target countries for these migrations. For that reason the EU should seriously deal with these issues," Dacic said, responding to questions from journalists about a large number of arrests in Hungary of illegal migrants from Kosovo.

The Serbian official pointed out that this topic was discussed in Brussels on Monday at a meeting with representatives of Pristina and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Frederica Mogherini.

"Serbia will do everything in its power," Dacic said, but asked "what should be done with the people who were legally issued Schengen visas in Pristina."

"We will prevent illegal migration, but, you know what illegal migration is - it's when someone is illegally moving from one territory to another. But what about when they do it based on some agreement or legally issued visas? It's not illegal migration," he concluded.

"I would not like Hungary or Serbia to be guilty of something they are not guilty of at all," Dacic added.

Noting that, according to the Pristina media, between 60,000 and 100,000 people have left Kosovo in the past six month, Dacic said that this "alarming data" should be considered at the level of ministries of internal affairs of EU member countries.

"That's why this question should be moved from the domain of politics to the domain of interior affairs," he said.

While in Hungary, Dacic is also scheduled to confer with Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Parliament Speaker Laszlo Kover. He will meet with representatives of the Serb minority in Hungary and ambassadors of the member states of the Danube Commission, which is chaired by Serbia, the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced.