News: New European Commission recommendation to extend Frontex’s powers in the Western Balkans

The European Commission has adopted a recommendation addressed to the European Council, aimed at authorizing the start of negotiations to strengthen the agreements on the status of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia. The recommendation provides for the possibility of deploying the Frontex permanent corps no longer only at the EU’s external borders but also at the internal borders between third countries, granting them executive powers The agreement currently in force, allows the deployment of the permanent Frontex corps only at the European border. The new proposal aims to allow Frontex to deploy a permanent corps both at the border with third countries and to exercise executive powers.

The Commission also adopted a new assistance package worth EUR 39.2 million under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA III) to strengthen border management in the Western Balkans.