BELGRADE, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- A senior European Union official praised Serbia on Sunday for being the essential partner of the EU in handling the migrant crisis, the Serbian government said in a statement.
According to the statement, visiting European Commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management Christos Stylianides met with Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic.
"Serbia is a role model how to answer to challenges of this crisis in a humane and efficient way," Stylianides said, quoted by the statement.
More than 700,000 migrants passed through Serbia in 2015. In 2016, several thousand of migrants were sheltered in Serbia, according to official figures.
The EU has allocated more than 20 million euros (21.4 million U.S. dollars) of humanitarian aid so far to help Serbia cope with the migrant crisis, according to the statement.
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