Bosnia and Herzegovina and Frontex signed a key agreement to strengthen border management and security on the path to the EU

Brussels, (Fena) – Today, an Agreement was signed in Brussels with Frontex, signed by the Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Borjana Krišto, and the Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Issues, Magnus Brunner.

The signing of the Agreement between the European Union and Bosnia and Herzegovina on operational activities carried out by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency in Bosnia and Herzegovina is a significant step forward on BiH’s European path, as fulfilling one of the EU conditions makes Bosnia and Herzegovina a credible partner in securing the EU’s external borders and in our country’s role in the overall security architecture of the EU and the European continent.

At a bilateral meeting held after the signing ceremony, Krišto and Brunner discussed current security challenges in the EU as well as issues of illegal migration, particularly in our region and Southeast Europe.

– Bosnia and Herzegovina has made an important step forward on its path to EU membership by signing a key agreement with the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), said today the head of the EU Delegation and EU Special Representative in BiH, Luigi Soreca.

He explained that this means more personnel for border monitoring, access to various technical tools and systems, more efficient data and information exchange, and greater access to practical experience and expertise from the EU.

– This agreement will enable Frontex to deploy officers in Bosnia and Herzegovina with executive powers to support BiH authorities in border management operations – Soreca stated.

He emphasized that more efficient border management is in the interest of all European countries, and that today’s step is particularly significant as it comes at a time when BiH has fallen into a deep political crisis that has, unfortunately, almost completely halted progress towards EU integration.

– BiH has the capacity for progress when there is enough political will. I look forward to the same political will being demonstrated in the remaining steps that BiH needs to take before the first Intergovernmental Conference, which would officially open negotiations for EU accession. The time to act is now – Soreca emphasized.

Negotiations on the content of the agreement itself, which includes the deployment of Frontex members in the border area of BiH, lasted quite a long time, and only recently did the Presidency of BiH adopt this document, thus removing the last obstacle to signing the agreement.

Frontex has similar agreements with other countries in the Western Balkans, and its implementation will play a significant role in preventing illegal migration across the territory of BiH.

In December of last year, the Director of the Border Police of BiH and head of the BiH negotiating team with Frontex, Mirko Kuprešaković, and the Director for Schengen, Borders, and Visas in the Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs of the European Commission, Henrik Nielsen, initialed the Agreement between BiH and the EU on operational activities carried out by Frontex in BiH, as the full title of the document reads. (11.06.)