MPI Europe Webinar
On the Wrong Path? Protecting the European Union’s External Border in the Western Balkans
Multimedia Tabs
Karen Mets, Senior Advocacy Adviser, Asylum and Migration/Children on the Move, Save the Children International
Ugo Poli, Project Manager, CEI Focal Point Migrations, Secretariat of the Central European Initiative
Peter Van der Auweraert, Western Balkans Coordinator, Representative/Chief of Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Hanne Beirens, Acting Director, Migration Policy Institute (MPI) Europe
The European Union’s more stringent controls on its external border are having serious effects for its near neighbors. In Bosnia, thousands of people trying to make their way to EU Member States last year had their paths blocked at the Croatian border. Many spent the winter in Bosnia, a country ill-equipped to deal with their needs. Bosnian authorities have struggled to adapt, even with help from international agencies and the European Union, with whom they signed an agreement in January to facilitate joint operations and so-called "rapid border interventions."
With thousands more migrants potentially traveling through the Western Balkans this year, this MPI Europe webinar explores the implications of the buttressed EU border on the bloc’s neighbors. Is this another example of the European Union outsourcing its toughest political issues on migration control? How can the European Union support efforts to address irregular migration in neighboring countries, many of which are already struggling with complex economic and political challenges? If the incoming crop of EU leaders continues these policies, what are the tradeoffs and considerations that they must weigh? Experts on this webinar address these and other questions.
