Romania reiterates its full readiness to „actively and substantially” contribute to the implementation of the measures and actions proposed by the European Commission through the EU Action Plan on the Western Balkans, in complete European spirit of solidarity and responsibility, in close collaboration with the rest of the European partners, Government spokesperson Dan Carbunaru declared, on Monday, according to Agerpres.

„The Government of Romania welcomes the presentation, today, by the European Commission, of the Action Plan on the Western Balkans, as a follow up on the extraordinary meeting of the Extraordinary Justice and Home Affairs Council (Home Affairs) of 25 November this year. Romania appreciates the comprehensive nature of the document presented by the European Commission, which includes concrete measures and important action steps to address the challenges related to the phenomenon of illegal migration on the Western Balkans route. In this context, the Government of Romania expresses its confidence that the set of measures and instruments proposed by the European Commission in the plan published today are of a nature to respond including to the concerns recently voiced by Austria with regard to this year’s developments on the Western Balkans route, offering pragmatic solutions for the effective management of this situation,” Carbunaru told a press conference held at the Victoria Palace of Government.

He specified that the Action Plan identifies 20 operational measures structured along 5 pillars and include: strengthening border management along the routes; swift asylum procedures and support reception capacity; fighting migrant smuggling; enhancing readmission cooperation and returns as well as achieving visa policy alignment

„These measures are aimed at supporting the actions of the partners in the Western Balkans, simultaneously with the actions of the EU, as well as strengthening cooperation in terms of migration and border control with the partners in the region, in the light of these states’ prospects of joining the EU and their efforts to align with EU rules,”, he added.

At the same time, the Action Plan is complementary to the proposed objectives related to the main migration routes towards Europe and can serve as a model for the development of similar plans, for other migration routes, Carbunaru said.

Agerpres