Chronology
| Signature of EU readmission agreement | Liberalisation of visa regime (Council decisions/entry into force) | ||
| Albania | 7.11.2005 Decision 2005/809/EC of 7 November 2005: Republic of Albania | 8.11.2010 | |
| Bosnia-Herzegovina | 8.11.2007Decision 2007/820/EC of 8 November 2007: Bosnia and Herzegovina | 8.11.2010 | |
| Kosovo | Bi-lateral readmission agreements signed with at least ten EU member states plus at least four non-EU countries (see list) | EC Fact-finding mission in Summer 2011 | |
| (Former Yugoslav Republic of) Macedonia | 8.11.2007Decision 2007/817/EC of 8 November 2007: Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia | 30/11/2009 | 19/12/2009 |
| Montenegro | 8.11.2007Decision 2007/818/EC of 8 November 2007 Republic of Montenegro |
30/11/2009 | 19/12/2009 |
| Serbia | 8.11.2007Decision 2007/819/EC of 8 November 2007: Republic of Serbia | 30/11/2009 | 19/12/2009 |
Asylum applications in the EU (source Eurostat)
| 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 (first quarter) | |
| Albania | 1310 | 2035 | 415 | |
| Bosnia | 2095 | |||
| Macedonia | 7550 | 1530 | ||
| Montenegro | ||||
| Serbia | 5235 | 17715 | 37752 | |
| Kosovo[1] | 14258 | 3090 |
European Council
13.12.2011 Adoption of a general approach to the Commission’s proposal allowing for a temporary suspension of the visa liberalization.
9.06.11 Discussion of the Commission’s report on the post-visa liberalization monitoring in the mixed committee
European Commission
Commission staff working paper: Third Report on the Post-Visa Liberalisation Monitoring for the Western Balkan Countries in accordance with the Commission Statement of 8 November 2010, Brussels, 28.8.2012, COM(2012) 472 final
Commission staff working paper: Second report on the post-visa liberalisation monitoring for the Western Balkan countries in accordance with the Commission Statement of 8 November 2010, Brussels, 7.12.2011, SEC(2011) 1570 final
Commission staff working paper on the post-visa liberalisation monitoring for the Western Balkan countries in accordance with the Commission Statement of 8 November 2010, SEC(2011) 695 final, 30.05.2011
Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement, COM(2011) 290 final, Brussels, 24.5.2011
Conseil de l’Europe
Commissioner for Human Rights: The right to leave one’s country should be applied without discrimination, 22.11.2011 (FR)
Parliamentary Assembly
Roma migrants in Europe,Recommendation 2003 (2012)Provisional version
Roma migrants in Europe, Report prepared by Ms Annette GROTH Germany Group of the Unified European Left, Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons, Doc. 12950, 8 June 2012
Profiling of Roma and other asylum seekers from the Western Balkans (Eng/FR), PACE document, 4.05.2012
European Parliament
Parliamentary question of MEP Barbara Lochbihler to the European Commission and Council, 15 December 2011
Answer by the European Commission (FR, DE)
Written question by MEP Monika Flašíková Beňová (S&D) concerning “Undue political pressure by the Commission on Western Balkan countries”
Answer given by Ms Malmström on behalf of the Commission (31.1.2012)
Meijers committee
Meijers Committee: Letter on the implications of the ECHR Stamose judgment for the visa liberation negotiations, 10 January 2013
Meijers committee: Note on the proposal to introduce a safeguard clause to suspend visa liberalisation (COM (2011) 290 final), 19 December 2011
NGO coalition
European Commission: Reply to confirmatory application concerning visa liberalisation (4.05.12)
Reply of the European Commission, 15 February 2012
Letter to the European Commission regarding ongoing human rights concerns in relation with the European Commission’s requests to the countries of the Western Balkans to stop the influx of asylum seekers in the EU (Reply to the EU Commission), 25 January 2012
Reply by the European Commission’s reply of 21 December 2011
Letter to Commissioner Cecilia Malmström regarding human rights concerns in relation with the European Commission’s request to the Serbian and Macedonian authorities to prevent their citizens from seeking asylum in the European Union, 26.10.2010
Reply of the European Commission of 25.03.2011
Letter to the European Commission regarding human rights concerns in relation to the treatment of asylum seekers from Serbia and Macedonia in EU member states, 22.07.11
Letter to the Macedonian government regarding Human rights concerns in relation with the recent measures taken by your government aimed to restrict the alleged abuse of the visa-free regime, 3.08.2011
Letter to the Serbian government related to the Planned restrictions on the freedom of movement of Serbian citizens, 7.06.11
Letter to Commissioner Cecilia Malmström regarding Ongoing human rights concerns in relation with the European Commission’s requests to the countries of the Western Balkans to stop the influx of asylum seekers in the European Union, 26.11.2011
Reply by the European Commission to Chachipe’s letter regarding ongoing human rights concerns in relation with the European Commission’s request to the countries of the Western Balkans to stop the influx of asylum seekers in the European Union, 21.12.11
Letter to the Director General of the DG Home Affairs regarding the Mission of the International Centre for Migration Policy Development in relation with the visa liberalisation for the Western Balkans, 12.11.2011
Other activities
Chachipe: Selective Freedom – The Visa Liberalisation and Restrictions on the Right to Travel in the Balkans, June 2012
Chachipe: Die Lebensbedingungen der Roma werden zunehmend unerträglicher (Vortrag), Dezember 2012
Chachipe: Vom vaterlandslosen Gesellen zum Scheinasylanten – Über den Umgang mit Romaflüchtlingen aus dem Balkan, Presentation at the Stadtbücherei in Münster (organisers: GUA/Aktion 302), 3.05.12
Chachipe’s contribution to the Hearing on Human Rights in the Western Balkans, 10.11.2011
Chachipe’s submission to the Rapporteur Annette Groth of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on Roma and Migration in relation with the meeting of the Council of Europe Ad Hoc Committee of Experts on Roma Issues (CAHROM) in Istanbul, November 2011
Joint statements
Stop racist attacks against Roma! (Press release), 15.10.12
Flüchtlings- und Romaorganisationen warnen: Druck auf Balkanstaaten begünstigt Rassismus, 20.12.2010 (ENG)
La suppression des visas « Schengen » ne doit pas se faire au prix de celle du droit d’asile, 15.12.10
Articles
Visa proposals fuel Roma tensions, PublicServiceEurope, 20.06.2011
Macedonia has ‘no legal basis’ for Roma travel bans, PublicServiceEurope, 9.08.11
Press releases
Visa issues: EU risks credibility as human rights actor (ENG/DE/FR/SR), 27.11.11
Human Rights NGOs warn Macedonian government in asylum row (ENG/DE/FR/ES), 4.08.2011
NGOs warn Serbia not to infringe the freedom of movement of its citizens (ENG/FR), 7.06.2011
[1] Separate reports since 2009
Chachipe 