GERMANY-KOSOVO/MUSTAFA Chances are “as good as none” for Kosovo asylum applicants - Merkel

Record ID: 148380

  • Title: GERMANY-KOSOVO/MUSTAFA Chances are “as good as none” for Kosovo asylum applicants - Merkel
  • Date: 30th June 2015
  • Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (JUNE 30, 2015) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF GERMAN CHANCELLERY GERMAN, EU AND KOSOVO FLAGS FLYING EXTERIOR OF GERMAN CHANCELLERY GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL AND KOSOVO PRIME MINISTER ISA MUSTAFA ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE CAMERA CREWS (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR, ANGELA MERKEL, SAYING: "1,1 percent of asylum seekers will be recognised, that's why
  • Embargoed: 15th July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAF2IAM3KTRUWRZIBA45Y5HOBWL
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Chancellor Angela Merkel said chances of asylum seekers from Kosovo to be given the status in Germany are "as good as none" at a news conference on Tuesday (June 30).
    "1,1 percent of asylum seekers will be recognised," Merkel told a news conference with after talks with Kosovo Prime Minister Isa Mustafa.
    "At the moment we are working on speeding up the process and to send the message 'chances are as good as none (for asylum)'," she added.
    In February the European Union experienced a steep rise in the number of Kosovo citizens smuggling themselves into the affluent bloc, with 10,000 filing for asylum in Hungary in just one month this year compared to 6,000 for the whole of 2013.
    It followed a relaxation of travel rules allowing Kosovars to reach EU borders via Serbia and has coincided with political turmoil and street unrest in Kosovo fuelled by poverty, high unemployment and economically debilitating corruption.
    Mustafa said there is "no reason" for Kosovars to seek asylum in Germany and his country will facilitate the return of those who recently left.
    "Kosovo is safe for its people and we have taken on the responsibility to create the conditions to solve the economical and social problems in Kosovo, but also we would like the support of the EU states and especially Germany in order to find possibilities for jobs, for employment on a legal basis," Mustafa added.
    Around 700,000-800,000 Kosovars already live and work in western Europe, mainly Switzerland and Germany - a diaspora that originated with an exodus from repression and war with Serbia in the late 1990s and then stubborn poverty in the 15 years since.
    Kosovo declared independence in 2008 and is recognised by more than 100 countries. But Serbia's refusal - backed by U.N. veto-holder Russia - to do so has impeded Kosovo's international integration and therefore its economic development.
    The EU's Schengen visa-free travel zone has become an attractive destination for thousands of migrants entering Europe through the Balkans from the Middle East and Africa. Most cross the Serbian-Hungarian border after taking a risky trip by boat to Turkey, then to Greece. From there, they come mostly on foot, though Macedonia to Serbia.
    More than 67,000 illegal migrants crossed into the European Union via its border with Serbia in the first six months of this year, most of them fleeing wars and unrest in Syria, Iraq, Libya or Afghanistan.
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