- European Commission Expects Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia to Accelerate Its Alignment with the EU Visa Policies
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s non-compliance with the EU visa policy contributes to an increased risk of irregular migration to the EU via the Western Balkans route, according to a report adopted by the Commission on 6 December and published on 9 December.
Citizens of countries that enjoy visa-free travel to the Western Balkans arrive via regular flights as tourists and then try to enter the EU illegally. Despite an overall decrease in irregular border crossings into the EU via the Western Balkan route, in the first nine months of this year there was an approximately 30 % more crossings compared to the same period last year. In the first nine months of 2024, 90 % of all irregular border crossings on the Western Balkans route were recorded along this border.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has a visa-free regime with 7 countries whose citizens require a visa to enter the EU: Azerbaijan, China, Kuwait, Qatar, Russia, Turkey. In addition, citizens of Saudi Arabia do not need a visa during in summer. After BiH introduced visas for citizens of Bahrain in 2023, and for citizens of Oman in 2024, the European Commission expects further harmonization with the EU visa policy. However, there is a lack of political will in Sarajevo (this concerns Turkey) and Banja Luka (this concerns Russia) to introduce visas for citizens of “friendly countries”.
Serbia has a visa-free regime with 16 countries whose citizens require a visa to enter the EU: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, China, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Suriname and Turkey. The lack of alignment contributes to an increased risk of irregular migration to the EU via the Western Balkans route. The European Commission expects Serbia to faster the harmonisation of its visa policy, the report states.
In November 2023, Serbia adopted a plan to align with EU visa policy, stating full compliance would occur one year or six months before EU accession. However, given the slow pace of Serbia’s accession negotiations, this is expected to take years, the media state.
- Croatia May Slow Down Montenegro’s European Integration
Croatia has sent an unofficial document to Montenegro with demands to resolve a number of open questions that, harm mutual relations between the two countries, according to the document.
The non-paper was sent in mid-November. Montenegrin media informed about this message in early December this year.
According to journalists, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro received a document with ten points. Among the issues listed by the Croatian side:
• the issue of ownership of Jadran training ship,
• delimitation of the borders between the two countries near the Prevlaka peninsula,
• protection of the identity of the Croatian “autochthonous national minority” in Montenegro, in particular, the implementation of the right to education and the return of property,
• investigation of war crimes and punishment of war criminals, primarily those involved in the attack on Dubrovnik in 1991-1992,
• ensuring “fair and dignified” compensation for all Croatian prisoners held in camps in Montenegro during the aggression against Croatia,
• searching for those missing during the war in the early 1990s,
• resolving the issue of the name of the city swimming pool in Kotor, named after an athlete who was guarding in a camp for Croatian prisoners of war during the attack on Dubrovnik.
The Montenegrin Foreign Ministry has expressed its readiness for negotiations with Zagreb also in the form of an unofficial document. Regarding the issue of the name of the Kotor pool, the decision was made by the local authorities, elections were recently held in this municipality, and new self-government bodies have not yet been formed, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted.
Thus, resolving open questions between Zagreb and Podgorica can be a long-term process.
The Croatian unofficial document came on the eve of the expected closure of four chapters in Montenegro’s negotiations with the European Union by the end of this year. There are fears that unresolved bilateral issues between Podgorica and Zagreb will slow down this process.
- The US Blacklist Added Former North Macedonian Deputy Prime Minister and Appeals Court Judge
The US State Department has imposed sanctions on former North Macedonian Deputy Prime Minister Artan Grubi, his family members and Judge for North Macedonia Court of Appeals Enver Bexheti for corruption by accepting bribes to undermine judicial proceedings related to the criminal conviction of Sašo Mijalkov, Director of the Security Directorate of North Macedonia and Counterintelligence.
Mijalkov was also blacklisted two years ago.He headed the agency from 2006 to 2015 and was accused of illegally wiretapping hundreds of people.
The “Target-Fortress” case (“Target-Tvrdina”) (“Target-Fortress”) began in December 2017. In 2021, the Criminal Court found Mijalkov guilty of abuse of official position and receiving remuneration for certain illegal services, and sentenced him to 12 years in prison in 2021. In its turn, Bexheti, as the judge-rapporteur in the Court of Appeal, did not schedule a trial for months. In the meantime, amendments were made to the Criminal Law that mitigated the penalties for abuse of office. As a result, in October 2023, the Criminal Court in Skopje closed the case of mass wiretapping.
The “Target-Tvrdina” case is one of the most striking examples of abuse by former high-ranking persons in North Macedonia. It was a high-profile case at the beginning, but the accused were never punished for various reasons.
- A “Foreign Agents” Bill Has Been Submitted to the Serbian Parliament
The bill, submitted to parliament by a member of the pro-Russian Movement of Socialists (Pokret socialista), Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin, aims to regulate organizations receiving more than 50 % of their funding from foreign sources and to establish a “foreign agents” registry.
Vulin has positioned the bill as a transparency measure, comparing it to the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). However, Serbian opposition and international observers believe the Socialists’ bill is a version of Russia’s Foreign Agents Law, aimed at suppressing dissent.
“This draft law poses a serious and direct threat to civil society organizations, jeopardizing their role in safeguarding democratic values, human rights, and European integration,” the EU’s Economic and Social Committee said in a statement on December,3. The EESC warned that such legislation was incompatible with the fundamental values of the European Union and could hinder Serbia’s progress towards membership. “We call on Serbian lawmakers to consider the implications of the proposed draft law and to avoid actions that could harm civil society and hinder Serbia’s progress on its European path,” the EESC noted.
- “Budgetary” Conflict Between the Banja Luka City Hall and the Republika Srpska Authorities
The reason for the dispute is a draft law of the Republika Srpska government that reduces the budget revenues from value added tax (VAT) in the cities of Banja Luka and Bijeljina.
According to the Mayor of Banja Luka, Draško Stanivuković, due to this law, Banja Luka will receive about six million marks (about three million euros) less in 2025.
On December 6, the Mayor of Banja Luka ordered to turn off the lights around the government building and the Presidental residence of the RS. In addition, the city authorities blocked the entrance to the parking zone near the RS government institutions. Stanivuković also announced the shutdown of heating in the RS institutions that have debts to Banja Luka and the cessation of airline service at the airport, which is located about twenty kilometers from the city.
On December 9, several hundred citizens gathered in front of the Palace of the Republika Srpska in Banja Luka, where the Presidental residence is located, to protest against the controversial law.
If the authorities do not withdraw the controversial law, protest acts, including actions in front of the RS institutions, will continue, Stanivuković demanded.
Regional media noted that Banja Luka and Bijeljina were the only two larger cities in the Republika Srpska headed by mayors who are not members of Dodik’s SNSD party (Alliance of Independent Social Democrats), or other parties of the ruling coalition in the RS. In particular, Draško Stanivuković is a member of the opposition Party of Democratic Progress (PDP). Thus, the government’s decisions to reduce the budgets of Banja Luka and Bijeljina could be a fight between Dodik and his political opponents.
