Austria's chancellor has said he would lobby the European Union for €2 billion in funding for Bulgaria to strengthen its border with Turkey. Despite pushback, Bulgaria's president says he's hopeful his country would join the Schengen group of countries in the foreseeable future.
Prague reported a significant rise in irregular migrants in 2022, with the vast majority coming from Syria. Most migrants, however, continued their journey to Western European countries to seek asylum.
Switzerland recorded some 52,000 cases of unauthorized entry last year, almost three times as many as in 2021. Most of the migrants apprehended were reported to be of Afghan and Moroccan nationality.
The search for a solidarity-based asylum policy continues in the new year. Two camps are irreconcilably opposed in the EU. Will they take in more people or raise barriers to entry?
Bulgaria has detained 70 people suspected of having entered the country as migrants using irregular means. Some had to be rushed to hospital having suffered exhaustion, according to regional police forces.
Croatia will join the unrestricted movement arrangement from January 1. However, an EU official confirmed the bids from Bulgaria and Romania to join the Schengen Area have been blocked.
Though the top EU court recently ruled that Germany, Denmark and other Schengen states have no legal basis for extending border checks reimposed in 2015, the European Commission is not initiating infringement procedures.
An increasing number of asylum seekers are taking advantage of Serbia's visa-free policy to enter the country — but now the Balkan nation is backing down under EU pressure and imposing entry requirements on Burundians.
There has been an increase in the interceptions of undocumented migrants at the Slovakian border, after patrols were intensified due to the reinstatement of border controls by the Czech Republic and Austria in the Schengen area.
Countries along the Balkan route are stepping up border controls in an attempt to stem irregular migration. An increasing number of migrants have been taking this route since this summer -- what accounts for this phenomenon? Several hypotheses exist.
Czech border police on Thursday fired warning shots in the air before detaining the driver of a van carrying 15 migrants. Czechia and Austria have re-introduced checks at their borders with Slovakia to combat a rise in unauthorized entries.
Greece has accused the EU of applying a double standard when dealing with Ukrainians fleeing the war, compared with the victims of other conflicts.