Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro wish to intensify their cooperation with Frontex to put illegal migration under control and they see this as an important contribution on their EU membership path, ministers Nenad Nesic and Filip Adzic said in Sarajevo on Wednesday.

Montenegrin Interior Minister Adzic paid an official visit to BiH, meeting with Security Minister Nesic.

The two governments wish to increase control of the Balkan illegal migration route with the help of Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Adzic told the press.

Montenegro has signed an agreement with Frontex. Nesic said BiH was intensively negotiating on that. “We are on the right track and I'm confident we will solve this issue within an optimal deadline.”

The cooperation between the Montenegrin police and Frontex has already produced results, but illegal migration remains a big challenge for all Balkan states, Adzic said.

The Balkan route attracted migrants again last year, after a marked decrease in their numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the trend has continued this year. In the first half of 2023, BiH registered over 10,000 illegal migrants, the bulk of whom intend to continue on to the EU.

Per Frontex, the number of illegal border crossings was the highest since 2016, with 330,000 registered on the EU's external borders, up 64% in 2021. Nearly 150,000 of those migrants used the Balkan route.

Adzic said police agencies must intensify operational cooperation to crack down on illegal migration and organised crime related to people trafficking. That is a prerequisite for Montenegro and BiH to become part of the single European security area, he added.

“The criminal organisations operating in the two countries have long crossed their borders and are active all over Europe as well as in the Middle East and Latin America,” he said, adding that police agencies are constantly working on improving the exchange of information.