The EU announces the deployment of FRONTEX for border control in Serbia

The Council of the European Union (EU) has given the green light for the signing of an agreement with Serbia, which will enable the deployment of patrols by the European Border Guard Agency (FRONTEX) for border control, even within the territory of Serbia in actions of common for controlling illegal migration.

Serbia is located on the so-called “Balkan Route”, which, despite fences, surveillance cameras and joint border patrols, is the second most active migrant route, according to FRONTEX reports.

The EU announced that the Council approved this decision on Thursday in Brussels.

“The agreement will enable the EU and Serbia to organize joint operations that would include FRONTEX and the border guard of Serbia. This also means that FRONTEX border management teams can be deployed in Serbia. They will help Serbia to manage waves of migration, act against illegal immigration and fight against cross-border crimes”, says the announcement of the Council of the EU.

Until now, the EU has had a cooperation agreement with Serbia on this issue, but it enabled FRONTEX actions only at the borders of the EU countries with Serbia. The new agreement will enable the establishment of FRONTEX within the territory of Serbia.

FRONTEX is the EU agency responsible for the implementation of European integrated border management, the effective functioning of border control at the external borders of the EU in coordination with the national authorities of the EU member states and the Schengen countries (Iceland, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Norway).

The agency is responsible for border management, internal security within the EU and migration management, including an effective return policy, maintaining the free movement of persons within the union and full respect for fundamental rights.

The European Union already has such agreements with several neighboring countries, such as with Moldova, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania.

For the European Union, agreements with neighboring countries to enable FRONTEX to operate in their territory have been identified as necessary to prevent them from being transit routes for massive illegal immigration to EU countries.

The so-called “Balkan Route” followed by migrants continues to be of concern to the EU, which aims to reduce the number of illegal immigrants who pass through it to the EU.

Due to the large number of illegal immigrants passing through the Western Balkans, Slovenia has suspended the application of Schengen rules on the border with Croatia and established border controls at that crossing point.

Besides the cooperation with FRONTEX, the EU expects the countries of the region to adapt to the EU visa policy for citizens of third countries. This is aimed at preventing the easy entry of immigrants without visas into any country in the Western Balkans and the illegal passage to EU countries, such as Croatia or Hungary.

The EU expects the countries of the Western Balkans to cooperate in the common management of immigration, as their citizens enjoy the possibility of visa-free movement in the countries of the bloc./REL/