Immigration: EU-Serbia Sign Agreement on European Border and Coast Guard Cooperation

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The Interior Minister of Finland Maria Ohisalo and the Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs, and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos have signed an agreement on behalf of the EU with the Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Nebojsa Stefanović on the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX).

The agreement will permit FRONTEX to help Serbia manage its borders by carrying out joint operations and deploying teams in the regions of Serbia bordering the EU, in a bid to deal with illegal immigration and cross-border crime for further enhancement of security at EU’s external borders.

According to Maria Ohisalo, the Finnish Minister of the Interior, cooperation with partners in the Western Balkans is compulsory for the EU to be able to successfully manage its borders.

“Through this agreement, FRONTEX will be able to coordinate operational cooperation between EU member states and Serbia, and provide support and expertise which will bring benefits for all,” she asserted.

Whereas, the EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs, and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos thanked Serbia for its efforts and commitment to ensure closer cooperation with the EU in terms of border management and migration tackling.

“This is in the interest of both Serbia and the EU. With the agreement signed today, we are further strengthening our relations with Western Balkan partners, bringing this neighborhood closer to the EU,” Avramopoulos added.

The EU had concluded negotiations with Serbia in August 2018, while later in September Commissioner Avramopoulos and Serbia’s Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Stefanović initialed the draft status agreement on September 2018. The signing of the agreement was finally authorized by the Council on January 22, 2019.

Now for the agreement to come closer to implementation, the European Parliament must give its consent in the following days.

FRONTEX in the Western Balkans

The European Union had previously signed similar agreements on cooperation on the European Border and Coast Guard Agency with Albania and Montenegro in October 2018 and October 2019 respectively. Agreements initialed with North Macedonia in July 2018 and with Bosnia and Herzegovina in January 2019 are still to be finalized.

On May 22, a joint operation between Albania and FRONTEX was launched, making it the first-ever operation on the territory of a non-EU neighboring country.

A Standing Corps of 10,000 and a Broader Mandate for FRONTEX

Only last week the European Parliament approved a regulation that gives FRONTEX a broader mandate to support the activities of the EU Member States, in particular regarding border control, return and cooperation with third countries. It also incorporates the European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR) into FRONTEX’s framework.

The EU has also granted FRONTEX with the means and rights to create a standing corps that will ensure coherent management of EU external borders and enable it to adequately respond to crises.

The new standing corps plans to have a number of 5,000 operational staff by 2021, while the corps will be fully operational by 2027 with 10,000 staff. It will consist of border and coast guards employed by the agency as well as staff seconded on a mandatory basis by EU countries.

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