Over 213 thousand Albanians obtained the citizenship of an EU country in 5 years

2024-07-12 13:50:00, Aktualitet CNA

About 50 thousand Albanian citizens obtained the citizenship of a European Union country during 2022, ranking third in Europe after Moroccans and Syrians, according to the report published by the European Statistics Agency, "Eurostat" and the European Migration Network.

The two countries neighboring Albania, known for the last three decades and for the high emigration of Albanians, Italy and Greece are the main ones in Europe for the high number of citizenships issued to Albanian citizens.

While referring to Eurostat data, for the last five years over 213 thousand Albanians acquired the citizenship of a country of the European Union.

According to the annual report on migration and asylum in Europe, 6,920 Albanians applied for asylum for the first time during 2023 in a European Union country.

In 2023, Albanians lead the list of Western Balkan countries in terms of the number of asylum seekers in Europe and are also ranked fifth in Europe after Turks, Georgians, Russians and Ukrainians.

Meanwhile, according to the report, Albanian citizens rank second in Europe after Ukrainians in terms of the number of refusals to enter a European Union country during 2023.

About 13,855 Albanian citizens who make up 11.6% of the refusals follow about 18,330 citizens from Ukraine, who were refused entry to the country of the European Union last year.

According to the report, Albanians rank second after Georgians for the high number of voluntary or forced returns from a European country to a third country during 2023.

According to the report, 7,870 Albanian citizens who make up 8.5% of the returnees are followed by 10,390 Georgians who lead the list of countries for forced returns of irregular migrants from European countries.

Meanwhile, the report on migration and asylum says that about 76 thousand Albanians have been recorded in obtaining new permits or a legal status of residence during 2023 in the countries of the European Union.

The report does not include the migration of Albanians to Great Britain that left the European Union.

Only during 2022, according to the British authorities, 12,658 immigrants from Albania entered the UK irregularly, mainly from the English Channel in small boats.

British data for the period September 2022 - September 2023 show that Great Britain experienced a significant increase in forced returns of foreign nationals that reached 5,506 people, of which Albanians make up over half (52%) of the returns forced./VOA