THE PATH TO EUROPE AS SELF-DESTRUCTION Frontex in BiH: Who is actually guarding the border – the state or the entities?

By: A. Čorbo-Zećo

On the apparent path of Bosnia and Herzegovina towards the European Union (which we will probably never enter), today we took an "important" step. Thus, the signing of the Agreement with Frontex was presented, signed by the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers of BiH Borjana Krišto and the European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner.

Although every step of Bosnia and Herzegovina towards joining the European Union should be viewed positively, it remains unclear how consensus was reached on this extremely delicate decision. The fact that the advice and warnings of experts, including those from the Center for Security Studies, were not heeded causes even greater concern.

The most controversial part of the Agreement is that, unlike the countries of the region where cooperation with Frontex is carried out exclusively through the state border police, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Frontex personnel will be subordinate not only to the BiH Border Police but also to entity and cantonal police structures.

And here we witness another absurdity similar to the one that arose from the political agreement on cooperation with EUROPOL and the establishment of a contact point in BiH. This approach actually represents further proof that the BiH authorities are systematically undermining internal sovereignty and dismantling state institutions on their "path" to the EU, which are already weaker, as we clearly see from the political activities of Milorad Dodik, Nenad Stevandić, and Radovan Višković.

The Agreement with Frontex was most pushed by the former Minister of Security, Nenad Nešić, who openly advocated for a so-called political compromise. His idea was that, in addition to the Border Police, entity and cantonal Ministries of Internal Affairs must also participate in operations with Frontex.

Such a Draft Agreement was adopted. The 'Troika' supported these demands, and the document was then sent to the BiH Presidency.

The BiH Presidency approved the opening of negotiations on the conclusion of the Agreement between BiH and the European Union on operational activities carried out by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency in BiH. However, this was done with a clearly adopted Conclusion that demands strict adherence to the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, precisely because of the controversial mention of entity police forces in the Draft itself.

Nevertheless, the Presidency's recommendations were clearly not respected.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has thus symbolically taken a step closer to the European Union – but another significant step away from its own institutional unity and sovereignty.