La Dichiarazione di Sarajevo del 21 marzo 2001

Joint declaration by the EU, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on the follow-up to the Zagreb Summit regarding regional co-operation in the area of asylum and immigration
Sarajevo 28 March 2001

The European Union represented by Ms. Maj-Inger Klinvall, Minister for Development Cooperation, Migration and Asylum Policy of Sweden, assisted by Mr. Antoine Duquesne, Minister of Interior of Belgium and Mr. Antonio Vitorino, Member of the European Commission;
and the countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process, represented by Mr. Bujar Himci, Deputy Minister of Public Order of Albania, Mr. Svetozar Mihajlovic, Minister of Civil Affairs and Communications of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr. Josip Vresk, Deputy Minister of Interior of Croatia, Ms. Marija Efremova, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedoina and Mr. Zoran Zivkovic, Minister of Interior of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
met in Sarajevo on 28 March 2001.

The meeting represented the first opportunity to give a concrete follow-up to the commitments undertaken in the Final Declaration of the Zagreb Summit, held on 24 November 2000, with regard to deepening regional co-operation in the field of asylum and immigration.
Ministers restated the commitment of the EU and the countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process to conclude Stabilisation and Association Agreements, which will include close cooperation on issues in relation to asylum and immigration.

Mindful of the current situation regarding increased unmanaged migratory movements through the region and its adverse consequences in the EU and in the countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process, Ministers agreed on the essential importance of regional co-operation and of the mutual raising of standards together with support from the EU.
Ministers supported as an important contribution in this regard the EU-backed initiative to establish a formal network of EU immigration liaison officers in the region to work with authorities of the countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process, in particular at a local level, to target the criminal syndacates organising the illegal migration flows.

The EU reiterated its intention to support relevant activities through its CARDS programme as well as other channels, e.g. the High Level Working Group on Asylum and Migration’s Action Plan for Albania and the neighbouring region. Ministers also ackowledged the contribution made by related activities within the Budapest Group and the Adriatic and Ionian Initiative, as well as, in particular, by the Migration and Asylum Initiative of the Stability Pact.
The countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process committed themselves to readmit any of their nationals illegally present on the territory of a Member State of the EU, upon request of the latter and without further formalities once such persons have been positively identified as such.

They undertook to align their legislation on relevant international conventions, e.g. the 1951 Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees and the 1967 New York Protocol and the 2000 UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, including the Protocol against Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air as well as the Protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children.
The countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process agreed to give new impetus to a lasting resolution of the problem of refugees and displaced persons.

Pursuant to point 3 of the Final Declaration of the Zagreb Summit of 24 November 2000, the countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process committed themselves to establish among themselves by 2002 regional co-operation agreements in the field of asylum and immigration. Such agreements should also provide for close-co-operation in the field of justice and home affairs, in particular for the reinforcement of justice and the independence thereof, for combating organised crime, corruption, money laundering, illegal immigration, trafficking in human beings and all other forms of trafficking.
To that end, Ministers identified the following areas as being important areas for co-operation in assisting efforts by the countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process.

1. Asylum – aligning standards of reception and procedural guarantees with best European practices.

2. Legal migration – fair treatment and non-discrimination of legally admitted third country nationals by the countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process.
3. Illegal immigration – information exchange, co-operation between authorities and swift conclusion of readmission agreements among the countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process themselves as well as with relevant third countries to prevent illegal immigration and smuggling of and trafficking in human beings, with the active support of the EU to that end.

4. Border control – training of staff and equipment for effective border surveillance by the countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and up-grading quality of travel documents; exchange of information; the possibility of Member States to send units of police/immigration officers to work along side the State Border Services in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia to provide assistance, in particular on-the-job training and advice. The EU expressed its readiness to provide technical assistance to other Stabilisation and Association Process countries in order to achieve a self-sustainable system of border control and capacity building of border police and customs throughout the region.

5. Visa policy and entry policies – alignment by the countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process to current applicable EU visa and entry rule, including the Schengen rules and procedures.

Ministers noted that progress made regarding regional co-operation in the areas mentioned above would form part of the regular EU reviews of the Stabilisation and Association Process.

Approfondimenti

Vai al documento integrale della Migration and Asylum Iniziative
Le migrazioni nel Patto di stabilità

La strategia del Patto di stabilità su giustizia e affari interni
L’ultimo rapporto trimestrale della MAI Support Unit al Patto di stabilità
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