The European Commission announced on Monday 26 September that it had proposed to the EU Council on 23 September the signing and conclusion of an agreement between the EU and North Macedonia on Frontex’s operational activities.
The EU Council decision submitted by the Commission “will strengthen Frontex’s capacities in the EU’s immediate neighbourhood, assisting the North Macedonian authorities in managing irregular migration, combating smuggling and enhancing security at the EU’s external borders”.
The Commission has already proposed similar agreements with other countries in the region.
On 3 and 4 November, an EU-Western Balkans ministerial forum will be held in Albania to discuss, among other things, the migration situation along the Western Balkan route.
According to a discussion note from the Czech Presidency of the EU Council, while the reception and asylum systems in the Western Balkans region are not, at this stage, overburdened, the increase movements in the region aggravated detections at the EU’s external borders.
So far in 2022, more than 85,000 irregular border crossings and attempted crossings have been recorded at the external borders on the Western Balkan route, with an impact on Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Slovenia and other countries along the route.
Link to the note: https://aeur.eu/f/396 (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)