The Closing conference on the EU twinning project "Support to the National Asylum System in the Republic of Serbia" was held today in Palace Serbia. Key project results were highlighted in the presence of high officials from the Republic of Serbia, representatives of the EU Member States - Sweden, the Netherlands and Slovenia, as well as the Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Serbia, representatives of diplomatic missions, international institutions and civil society.

Commissioner for Refugees and Migration Vladimir Cucic confirmed that Serbia is fully committed to EU membership and that it actively participates in projects which contribute to the rule of law and respect for human rights.

"One of the key results is the improvement of the asylum system in Serbia," Cucic said, adding that the twinning project began in September 2015 when Serbia faced a huge influx of migrants who entered the country via the Balkan route established at the time.

Commissioner Cucic pointed out that the significance of the twinning project for Serbia both from the normative and institutional aspect, as well as in establishing the need for capacity building and for enhancing the daily communication with other agencies.

"The main result of the project is certainly the draft of a new law on asylum and temporary protection that fully harmonizes Serbian legislation with the EU," said General Milenko Bozovic from the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia.

Swedish Ambassador to Serbia H.E. Jan Lundin said that the project enabled the transfer of Swedish experiences and commended the way in which Serbia deals with asylum seekers, saying that it does so in a "humanitarian and humanly manner".

The project "Support to the national asylum system in Serbia" was funded by the European Union in the amount of one million euros and was implemented by the Swedish Migration Agency, the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the Netherlands and the Ministry of Interior of Slovenia, while the beneficiary institutions were the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration as well as the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Serbia.