EU & Western Balkans Leaders agree on 17-point plan on migration
Leaders from EU Member States and the Western Balkans agreed on Sunday a 17-point plan to ease the ongoing refugee crisis in the region.
Meeting in Brussels, the leaders agreed to improve cooperation and step up consultation between the countries along the route and decided on pragmatic operational measures that can be implemented as of Monday 26 October to tackle the refugee crisis.
The past weeks have shown that the challenges currently faced along the Western Balkans migration route will not be solved through national actions. Only a collective approach based on cooperation can succeed. The European Commission convened the leaders of the countries concerned and most affected by the emergency situation along the Western Balkans route: Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia.
Speaking to the press before the meeting, High Representative Federica Mogherini i said: "What is at stake here is the coherence of our response to a process that is not going to disappear any time soon."
Concretely, leaders agreed to implement 17 operational measures including supporting refugees and providing shelter and rest, managing the migration flows together, border management, Tackling smuggling and trafficking and monitoring
Leaders Statement
http://ec.europa.eu/news/2015/docs/leader_statement_final.pdf
Full Press Release
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-15-5904_en.htm
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