Vucic: Visa-free regimes for four states scrapped over illegal migration

KELEBIJA/TOMPA - To date, Serbia has scrapped visa-free regimes for Tunisia, Burundi, Guinea-Bissau and India over illegal migration, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Thursday after inspecting temporary barriers at the Serbia-Hungary border with Hungarian President Katalin Novak.

"I am grateful to our Hungarian friends for the fact we have begun to talk on a weekly basis and solve problems together," Vucic said, adding that, by abolishing visa-free regimes for the four countries, Serbia was aligning with EU requests and that further measures would be taken "with Austrian and Hungarian colleagues."

He announced that the borders with North Macedonia and Bulgaria would be reinforced as the number of illegal migrants crossing into Serbia from the two countries had risen by 4 times and by 3.6 times, respectively, in 2022.

"We have thwarted 45,965 illegal entries from the territory of North Macedonia. I see that the figure in Hungary is 261,001, and we have also undertaken another measure - a tougher approach to armed crime groups," Vucic said.

"Not far from here, in the direction of Subotica, Palic and Horgos, we have had our security forces deployed on several locations and there were gunfights, and we arrested over 600 of those who thought they could commit certain illegal actions with weapons and take part in illegal migration. I believe we will continue to undertake measures to maintain security and safety," Vucic noted.