The meeting was opened by the Chairperson of the Defence and Internal Affairs Committee Marija Obradovic who said that it was the duty of everybody who is part of the social and political elite to propagate the ideas of dialogue, cooperation and sensible problem solving in this historic moment. “We shoulder a heavy burden, we should stand on the front line of the fight against xenophobia, Islamophobia, radicalisation of our societies in any way”, said Obradovic. She is sure that the discussion will lead to better mutual understanding and encourage the governments to seek joint approaches focused on a better future for all who are here now, and all who are yet to pass through these areas.

Darko Stancic, Assistant Director of the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF), said that the gathering aims to strengthen the dialogue among the parliaments of the Western Balkans so that they could deal with the migrant crisis together. “We wish to include in the dialogue representatives of the EU’s international partners, UNHCR and IOM, who support the region in the times it faces the migrant crisis,” said Stancic.

Head of Border Police Milenko Bozovic spoke of the flow of migrants, the numbers of migrants who have passed through Serbia and the police activities on preventing human trafficking in 2015. According to the data at the disposal of the Border Police, 486,210 migrants have entered Serbia since 1 January 2015. “The migration flow is accompanied by active people smuggling. The Police had received 742 reports since 1 January and thanks to them prevented the smuggling of 7 thousand people”, said Bozovic. He added that the country takes this problem very seriously and noted that there is no ministry that has not taken part in solving the migrant crisis.

Deputy Head of the EU Mission in Serbia Oscar Benedict opined that the migrant crisis is the biggest one in Europe wince WWII and commended Serbia’s responsible and civilised treatment of the migrants.

UNHCR Serbia deputy regional representative Anne-Brigitte Krum-Hansen agreed that the refugee crisis is a new and big issue for Europe in terms of its scope and humanitarian needs. She said it is difficult to differentiate between refugees and migrants which is why there should be a suitable registration procedure in place. She believes that some should be given the option to seek asylum and then their request should be reviewed in accordance with the law.

The regional parliamentary dialogue was co-organised by the National Assembly and the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF), and it will take place on 26 and 27 November.

On the second day of the regional parliamentary dialogue, 27 November, the participants had three panel discussions.

The topic of the first panel discussion, opened by the Chairperson of the Defence and Internal Affairs Committee of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia Marija Obradovic, was “Migration challenges in the Western Balkans – overview of global and regional trends and possible responses”. Obradovic said that in the past years the migration dynamics in the Western Balkan countries have changed drastically, recently culminating in an unprecedented refugee crisis, in which the Western Balkans have become a transit region for migrants and refugees, which poses new challenges of increasing complexity for the entire region. The Chairperson of the Defence and Internal Affairs Committee of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia emphasised the importance of a region-wide response and mutual adjustment of regional policies in this context.

The regional parliamentary dialogue was launched by Adnan Cerimagic, analyst of the European Stability Initiative, who spoke of the EU and Western Balkan countries’ role and potentials for facing the challenges of the migrant crisis. Cerimagic stressed that the migrant crisis has proved to be a substantial challenge this year. This year the European Union received five times more migrants than in the last several years. Speaking of Junker’s 17-point model of migrant movements Cerimagic said that it is not expected to solve the problem, but to alleviate the situation in Europe.

Gianluca Rocco, Sub-Regional Coordinator for the Western Balkans of the International Organisation for Migrations, opined that the key question to be addressed is where to station the mounting numbers of migrants which have been arriving to the European continent since spring. He stated that the solution lies in the cooperation of all the European countries which need to have a good dialogue amongst one another.

In the second panel, opened by Darko Stancic, Assistant Director of the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF), the participants of the regional parliamentary dialogue discussed “Border management and strengthening the fight against organised criminal groups”.

Anton Travner, Director of DCAF Ljubljana, explained the factors that affect migrations, with a special focus on economic migrants. He stressed that the costs of migration are at an all-time low which points to the conclusion that the rate of organised cross-border crime is not very high.

Head of Border Police Milenko Bozovic stressed that the laws relating to asylum have been drafted in accordance with the European Union, but are not fully harmonised and will be amended in the near future. He opined that the number of people crossing the border keeps growing every year. Bozovic said that the police had received 742 reports on criminal activities this year, which is twice as much as last year, and is the result of the increased flow of migrants through Europe, adding that the Border Police is on high alert.

In the third panel discussion, opened by Vlatko Cvrtila, former military adviser to the Croatian President and former Chairman of the Croatian Parliamentary Committee for the Supervision of Security Services, the representatives of the defence and internal affairs committees of the parliaments of SEE countries reviewed the topic “Addressing the refugee crisis in the Western Balkans – national approaches and future activities concerning the coordinated regional approach”. Cvrtila emphasised the importance of promoting bilateral and multilateral cooperation among the countries in the region and invited the participants to share their experiences.

The regional parliamentary dialogue was attended by the members of parliamentary committees in charge of defence, security and foreign affairs of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Kosovo, Hungary, Macedonia, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro.

Click here to read the Conclusions adopted at the end of the two-day dialogue.