The EU has now provided €25m to Serbia in emergency aid since 2015, and more than €80m paid for through EU financial mechanisms related to migration.

Commissioner for humanitarian and crisis management Christos Stylianides said: “Serbia has been a reliable partner to the European Union, and our partnership has allowed an effective response to the refugee crisis.

“We [the EU] have helped improve conditions in many reception centres, contributed to food provisions in camps, provided education in emergencies to children and helped providing health services.”

The humanitarian aid includes direct support to refugees as well as capacity building to enable the authorities to respond more effectively.

Efforts have been made to improve conditions at government-run reception centres, which are now able to accommodate up to 6,000 people.

Serbia also benefited from support via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism in 2015. Ten EU member states provided over 246,000 relief items during the refugee crisis including blankets, beds and clothing.

As of mid-2017, more than 4,000 refugees and asylum seekers are registered in the country.