SERBIA: Serbia, EU, Welcome New Deal on Deploying Frontex at Borders

The European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex, could be deployed on Serbia’s borders with Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia based on an agreement Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic signed with European Union Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migrations Ylva Johansson on Tuesday.

Johansson told the media in Belgrade this was “an upgraded agreement” and that negotiations about it started after her visit last year. “With this new agreement, you will be ready to deploy Frontex people also to the borders, with, for example, Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia,” she said. She added that “this will always be under Serbian command”.

Dacic said the deployment of Frontex personnel on the borders “will significantly contribute to our joint fight against cross-border crime and irregular migration… “With joint forces, we are strengthening the path to preserving public order and peace in our territory, but with it we will also preserve the borders of Europe,” he said after the meeting.

Johansson also said the EU had donated 56 “special vehicles together with surveillance equipment” to the Serbian police.

On May 30 the EU Council decided to sign a new deal with Serbia to “allow the EU and Serbia to organise joint operations involving Frontex and the Serbian border guards.

“It also means that Frontex border management teams can be deployed in Serbia, and will allow Frontex to assist Serbia in managing migratory flows, countering illegal immigration and tackling cross-border crime.”

Frontex personnel are already deployed on Serbia’s borders with Bulgaria and Hungary as part of an operation launched in 2021. Serbia then agreed to host a fully-fledged Frontex operation with 44 officers from 14 countries “helping to detect criminal activities such as people smuggling, trafficking in human beings, document fraud and smuggling of stolen vehicles, illegal drugs, weapons and excise goods, as well as potential terrorist threats”.

A Frontex press release back then said that, “in the coming months, the number of officers is expected to rise to up to 87 officers upon Serbia’s request”.

According to Frontex data from January, the Central Mediterranean and Balkan Routes are the two most active routes taken by migrants and refugees to enter the European Union. Frontex is now present in almost all “Balkan Route” countries.

A BIRN investigation into Bulgarian efforts to deal with irregular migration showed that the European Commission and Frontex were well aware of Bulgaria’s poor human rights record on its border with Turkey, but have overlooked it.

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