BRUSSELS – The migrants denied asylum in an EU state, who reached the bloc across the territory of Serbia, cannot be returned to Serbia, the European Commission (EC) reiterated on Tuesday. “Serbia is not part of the Dublin system which allows for countries within the EU, and within the Dublin system, to return asylum seekers to the first country of entry. So, this would not be possible,” EC Spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud said at a press conference in Brussels.
She said this in reply to the question as to whether the migrants on the western Balkans route who managed to get to the German border, after being first registered in Serbia, should be returned to Serbia after denied asylum in Germany.
Bertaud noted that seven EU states had introduced border controls in a temporary suspension of the Schengen deal – Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, France, Germany and Malta.