Most Balkan States Adopt UN Migration Pact

Most Balkan countries on Monday in Morocco signed the UN 'Global Compact on Migration' – although Bulgaria joined a large bloc of Central and East European countries in refusing to do so.

Intergovernmental Conference on the Global Compact for Migration (GCM) in Marrakech. Photo: EPA-EFE/JALAL MORCHIDI

More than 150 UN member states signed the Global Compact for Safe and Orderly Migration on Monday in Marrakech, Morocco – which has caused controversy in Balkan countries as it has done elsewhere.

Bulgaria was among six EU member states that backed way from signing the pact, claiming it puts the national interest at risk. Croatia at the last moment decided to back it, but is still affected by the controversy.

The US under Donald Trump backed out last year.

Bulgaria’s announced that it was withdrawing from the pact after Hungary, Austria and Poland announced that they would not sign it.

The Czech Republic, Estonia, Slovakia and Switzerland have also said no.

Montenegro’s Foreign Ministry, on the other hand, told BIRN that it supported the UN pact. It said it was the first United Nations agreement on adopting a common approach to international migration and all its dimensions.

Romania’s Foreign Minister, Theodor Melescanu, was present in Marrakech and signed the UN pact, after President Klaus Iohannis approved it last week.

“Romania will keep its capacity of decision over migration,” the ministry told BIRN. “The pact upholds the sovereign right of states to determine their own policies in the field and their own legislation to implement it,” it added.

It said Romania saw the pact not as facilitating migration but the contrary: “It contains provisions that discourage people to leave their states of origin and facilitates returns and readmission.”

Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania have already signed the document.

Macedonia also sent a delegation to the conference and signed the pact.

After Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic announced that she will not attend the conference, which was seen as a concession to right-wing groups, the Croatian government sent Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic instead.

Hrvoje Zekanovic, MP from the small right-wing Hrast [Oak] – Movement for Successful Croatia party, flew to Marrakech to protest against the signing of the document.

“I am here to say no to the Marrakech Agreement, no to a disputed document on migration and no the liberalization of migration,” Zekanovic said in Marrakech, holding up a banner that said: “Against Marrakech Agreement”.

Zekanović u Marakešu: Jedini sam došao reći NE liberalizaciji migracija https://t.co/Y75wcJhCCO #n1info

— TV N1 Zagreb (@N1infoZG) December 10, 2018

On Sunday in the coastal city of Split, a group of people gathered around the initiative Croatian Bastion [Hrvatski bedem] which was “founded to protect the identity, tradition, culture, religion, and customs of the Croatian people” organized a protest against the pact. They were backed by Hrast and the populist party Living Wall [Zivi zid].

Although the Global Compact will not be legally binding, right-wing, anti-immigrant, groups and parties claim it will “encourage migration” by making migration a human right.

Finalized in July, it addresses issues such as how to protect people who migrate, how to integrate them into new countries and how to return them to their home countries. It does not stipulate any particular number of migrants countries should accept.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the conference on Monday and thanked the participating countries for agreeing to take a common approach to international migration in all its dimensions.

Guterres said over 60,000 migrants had died on the move since 2000, calling that “a source of collective shame.”

He also said the pact does not allow UN to impose migration policies on member states and is not a legally binding treaty.

The pact was approved in July by all 193 UN member nations except for the US. But many countries have since pulled out, which is why only about 150 actually signed the document on Monday.

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