Border control: EU and Serbia sign new agreement

The European Union and Serbia have sealed a new cooperation agreement on border management with the European Agency Frontex. Internal Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson and Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Ivica Dacic signed the agreement on Tuesday in Belgrade. The text provides for increased cooperation between Frontex and Serbia.

Serbia, a key partner in managing road migration

Ylva Johansson considers the Balkan country “as a key partner of the EU in managing migration along routes”: “This is my third visit to Serbia and I have already twice witnessed the excellent cooperation at the EU border between Serbian border guards and their colleagues from Frontex against crime, migrant smugglers and irregular migration With the agreement on the status of Frontex that we signed today, we are improving our cooperation Always under the command of the Serbian authorities, always at the initiative of the Serbian authorities, Frontex will now be. also able to support Serbian border guards and law enforcement on the borders with Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia.”

Frontex deployed including at the borders with Serbia’s third countries

Ivica Dacic, for his part, welcomed this second agreement between Serbia and Frontex, an agreement according to which police forces will be deployed not only at the national borders with Hungary and Bulgaria, within the framework of the “Continental Serbia” operation, but also at the national borders of Serbia with third countries. “This is a significant contribution to the fight against cross-border crime and irregular migration.”

Frontex currently deploys more than 480 agents in the Balkan countries, as part of joint operations on the Union’s external borders with Albania, North Macedonia and Montenegro. The arrangement includes 111 officers deployed to Serbia as part of an ongoing joint operation, carried out under the previous status agreement with Serbia, on the borders with Hungary and Bulgaria.