Serbia ended negotiations on the agreements on facilitating the visa regime and the readmission less than a month after the agreements were initiated with Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia, the European Commission said in a statement. Both agreements should be signed this autumn so as to be able to go into effect on 1 January 2008.
The agreements are particularly important because I believe that that facilitating contacts among people from Serbia and the EU can significantly help increase mutual understanding and improve our connections in all areas, European Commission Vice President Franco Frattini said, adding that by signing the agreement on readmission, both parties have committed themselves to cooperate in dealing with the illegal migration issue.
Under the agreement on readmission, between 100,000 and 150,000 Serbian citizens, illegally residing in the EU, should be returned to their country of origin.
The agreement on facilitating the visa regime will apply to business people, students, experts, freelance doctors, lawyers, architects, as well as athletes, artists, civil society activists, NGO employees, journalists, members of religious communities, etc.
The agreement on facilitating the visa regime does not refer to Great Britain and Ireland.