Western Balkan workers are critical to some German industries, but a migration scheme may be greatly reduced. The CDU party wants to starkly reduce the number of Western Balkan workers coming to Germany.
The Serbian government on Saturday announced it is deploying troops to the country's border with Croatia in order to "secure" and "protect" citizens and the residents of three migrant camps situated there.
On Thursday, a top official at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) branded the accommodation housing asylum seekers on the Hungarian-Serbian border ‘detention.’ The statement by the advocate general is non-binding and a decision will be reached by the court at a later date.
The Serbian government is temporarily not allowing undocumented migrants to leave hosting centers amid the coronavirus emergency.
Bosnia-Herzegovina announced that it may send soldiers to its borders to block a new influx of migrants into the country following the crisis between Turkey and Greece. Meanwhile, Serbia said it will continue to express solidarity with migrants but will also defend its borders. Croatia emphasized it will not tolerate illegal crossings.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said his country will in no way turn into a "parking lot" for tens or hundreds of thousands of migrants, following Turkey's decision to open its borders toward Greece to refugees on its soil.
About 200 migrants gathered at Serbia’s border with Hungary on Thursday. Their demand: To be let into the European Union. But on Friday, they were bused to asylum centers further inside Serbia.
Hungarian border guards on the country’s southern border with Serbia fired warning shots when about 60 migrants tried to force their way through a checkpoint on Tuesday morning. Police said no one was injured, but migrants claimed excessive force was used.
Over 200 suspected traffickers and migrant smugglers have been arrested in an Interpol-led operation. Victims of the rings came from 14 different countries.
Greece and Serbia have discussed a plan to relocate about 100 unaccompanied migrant children currently in Greece to Serbia. The plan was agreed last month and will be carried out with the help of the UN.
Croatia has assumed the six-month rotating presidency of the EU Council -- for the first time. The youngest EU member state is having a chance to prove itself on the world stage amid serious allegations of migrant abuse at its borders.
Eight people have been arrested on human trafficking charges as part of an operation jointly carried out by police forces in Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, local media reported on Wednesday, December 18.