FM Stier: Balkan route needs to remain shut and under control

(Hina) - It is very important that the Western Balkan migrant route remains shut and under control, Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Minister Davor Ivo Stier said on Monday

(Hina) - It is very important that the Western Balkan migrant route remains shut and under control, Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Minister Davor Ivo Stier said on Monday noting that last year's migrant wave that hit Europe illustrated the urgency to find a "joint effective and long-term solution for these movements," but also of the importance to continue the cooperation between the EU and Turkey.

Minister Stier addressed a roundtable debate at the Catholic University of Croatia, entitled "Croatia in Europe - Migration Challenges."

"It is of particular importance that the Eastern-Mediterranean, so-called Western-Balkan migration route remains shut and under control," Stier said. He recalled last year's "unprecedented" migration tide since World War II which caused problems due to "the lack of ability to manage" that crisis in European countries, and assessed that it was essential "within the European framework to find a joint, effective and long-term solution to these movements."

"We all together have to be capable and know how to manage crises and not allow them to manage us," he said.

According to Stier, the key to controlling the migrant crisis lies in continuing to implement the agreement between the European Union and Turkey reached in March this year.

"We find the further effective implementation of the March 18 EU-Turkey Statement to be crucial and we advocate the continuation of an engaged approach toward Turkey considering the exceptionally large number of refugees and migrants on its territory," Stier said.

This crisis, he continued, has its internal and external aspects.

"With regard to the internal aspect, what is extremely important for us is that we can protect our borders well and therefore Croatia supports any initiative directed to the better protection and control the EU external border, particularly between Turkey and Greece," he underscored and expressed Croatia's readiness within the new border and coast guard agency to deploy police experts to Bulgaria.

"Last year's crisis showed that the current European asylum system is not functional with reference to such a large influx of people and that it is necessary to step up activities in creating and effective system based on the experience gained," he said.

He finds that it is necessary to relieve the burden of legal migrants through even distribution as fairly as possible.

When it comes to illegal migrants, Stier calls for cooperation in a bid to prevent human trafficking. That cooperation has an important security aspect in preventing the entry of terrorists.

When it comes to the external aspect, that is, to the "root of the cause", all the resources should be invested in stopping war conflicts and in facilitating reconstruction and the return of the population.

Wealthy and powerful countries will certainly have to face up to the way they irresponsibly expend global resources. They need to step up their policies toward developing countries to secure a dignified life for mankind, he concluded.

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