SARAJEVO (Reuters) -Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday signed an agreement with the European Union providing for technical assistance and deployment of EU guards on its borders to control and prevent illegal migration and cross-border crime.
The agreement was signed in Brussels by Borjana Kristo, the chairwoman of Bosnia’s Council of Ministers, and Magnus Brunner, the EU Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, a statement from Kristo’s office said.
“The signing today … is an important step forward on the European path of Bosnia-Herzegovina which has thus fulfilled an EU condition and become a credible partner in securing the external borders of the EU,” the statement said.
An EU candidate country which has yet to start negotiations on the membership of the 27-member bloc, Bosnia was the only Western Balkan country besides Kosovo that had not signed an arrangement with the EU’s border agency Frontex.
Thousands of people from the Middle East, Afghanistan, Pakistan and North Africa use the so-called Balkan route, which runs via Turkey, Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Serbia, to reach wealthy Western countries.
Frontex can assist EU countries by exercising powers such as border checks and registrations.
The EU has said its increased cooperation on border management with the Western Balkan countries has significantly decreased illegal border crossing, with a downward trend continuing in 2025.
Bosnia borders EU member Croatia, as well as Serbia and Montenegro, the countries which along with Albania and North Macedonia have signed arrangements with Frontex.
(Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic, editing by Ed Osmond)
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