Serbia Set To Change Visa Regime for Nationals of certain Countries Arriving by Plane  

Rados Djurovic: A Protector of Refugees

Alignment of Serbia’s visa regime with that of the EU, announced at a trilateral meeting in Budapest, will apply to nationals of the countries which have a more liberal visa regime with Serbia, that is, to those arriving in Serbia by plane and continuing their journeys to other countries, Asylum Protection Center Director Rados Djurovic has said. 

“This is a different type of migration. Those people come from Tunisia, India, Burundi, and for them, Serbia needs to align its visa regime with that of the EU. This means that Serbia needs to introduce visas or certain restrictions for them to reduce this type of migration,” Djurovic said, stressing that these were the countries generating the largest number of migrants arriving in Austria and Hungary.  

Asked whether Serbia could align its visa regime with the EU by the end of 2022 as announced, Djurovic said it would be very difficult to implement new requirements and also to conclude readmission agreements with the countries of origin of such migrants as it required the will and consent of those countries.  

Djurovic also said that as of September, 17,900 Ukrainian nationals had registered residence in Serbia and 95,000 had passed through the country, adding that tens of thousands of Russian nationals, probably more than 50,000, had arrived in Serbia.