European Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson warned that the EU's visa-free regime with Serbia could be revoked as a result of Belgrade "failing to align with European Union policies," the Belgrade-based Beta news agency said on Friday.

Beta recalled that the EU “has blamed Serbia for the sudden rise in the number of migrants” arriving in members states through the Western Balkans.

Johansson said she hoped that Serbia and other Western Balkan countries would align their visa policies with those of the EU.

Beta said that the data compiled by the EU’s border agency Frontex showed that more than 106,000 migrants entered the EU illegally via the Western Balkans in the first nine months of 2022 which is an increase of 170 percent compared to the same period a year earlier.

The European Commission noted that the route was used mainly by Syrians, Afghans and Turks but that migrants also arrived from Cuba, India, Burundi and Tunisia. Johansson said that many of them must return to their country of origin, and that the route needs to be closed. She is scheduled to meet Western Balkan officials in Berlin next week.