The Vienna Summit is underway with discussions taking place between six Western Balkan countries and six EU member states. Christoph Leitl, president of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce said in his opening speech that the European Union cannot be complete without Western Balkan countries.
"New realities bring new opportunities and challenges, that we must address together", Leitl said.
Vienna Summit confirms our clear commitment: Without the countries of the Western Balkans the EU is incomplete. #WEBS15vienna
— Sebastian Kurz (@sebastiankurz) 27 августа 2015
Yet the reality staring EU leaders in the face is not just the need for economic integration — but the challenge of coping with economic migration. While the Mediterranean migrant crisis dominated discussions and media reports, another route used by asylum seekers and refugees to reach Europe went under the radar.
The Western Balkan route has overtaken the Mediterranean Sea to become the busiest passage to the European Union. Refugees, migrants and asylum seekers travel from Turkey to Greece by sea, then overland across Macedonia to Serbia and Hungary returning to the European Union through Hungary and often onto Germany.
No-Man's Land Trap
Macedonia has declared a state of crisis, sealing its border with paramilitary police who fired flash bombs and tear gas at migrants. Hungary has completed construction of a razor wire fence along its border with Serbia with police officers using teargas to control refugees and migrants.
Vienna summit,#refugee focus-- will EU leaders respond to inhumanity of failures now? Rethink essential #WEBS15Vienna pic.twitter.com/dYqjY1Xne8
— Salil Shetty (@SalilShetty) 26 августа 2015
"There is a real concern that refugees are getting trapped in a Balkans no-man's land without protection or support, whilst EU countries turn their backs", said Gauri van Gulik from Amnesty International.
Western Balkan countries which are not yet EU members include: Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania. The majority of migrants are choosing to travel through these countries instead of travelling by boat to Italy. Frontex, the EU border agency, says over 100,000 people took the Western Balkan route at the beginning of the year.
We urge humane treatment for refugees + collective action at #Greece-fYR Macedonia border. http://t.co/V2oqy0IMPm pic.twitter.com/av8pZl09gq
— UN Refugee Agency (@Refugees) 27 августа 2015
Amnesty International are calling for the EU — Western Balkans Summit to take steps to rethink and rewrite Europe's asylum policies as conditions dramatically deteriorate across the whole of Europe which faces the biggest refugee crisis for 70 years.
