Minister Çollaku addresses visa liberalization with the Secretary of State for Asylum, Migration and Administrative Simplification of Belgium, Mr. Theo Francken

After the meeting, Minister Çollaku said: “We discussed with Mr. Francken to continue the excellent cooperation between the Belgian state and Kosovo. I thanked him for the support Belgium has provided to us in all priority areas for the European integration. Regarding the issue of irregular migration it is important to note that for Belgium, Kosovo is on the list of safe countries. One thing is for certain that the best shelter and the safest for Kosovar’s, is the Republic of Kosovo.”

On the other hand, Mr. Francken said: “There is excellent cooperation between Belgium and Kosovo on return and readmission of irregularly staying Kosovar’s. However, we should also pay attention to the push factors for the people leaving Kosovo. We hope to continue the good cooperation with the authorities of Kosovo to make the public aware of the risks of bogus asylum claims. Kosovo is on the Belgian list of safe countries, which means that chances are very low that the asylum request will be approved.”