The signing ceremony in North Macedonia’s capital Skopje was attended by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson.
“This agreement is not only very important because it strengthens our cooperation on migration but also because it shows that … we fully expect that now North Macedonia is moving forward along the European path,” von der Leyen said.
The country has long sought to join the 27-nation bloc, and is due to start accession negotiations in July.
Illegal migration along the so-called Western Balkan route, spanning much of the former Yugoslavia, has steadily increased since 2018. More than 105,000 illegal border crossings from the region into the EU were detected by Frontex between January and September, a sharp increase from the 2021 annual total of nearly 62,000.
Frontex already has agreements with Western Balkan countries Albania, Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina – all which are seeking to join the bloc – but wants to expand its powers there to have a presence at border areas that do not only adjoin with EU member states.
It has also pledged 350 million euros in support to combat illegal migration in those four partner countries between 2021 and 2024, increasing the amount initially budgeted by 60%.
Von der Leyen, who met with North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski, also promised continued EU support to Western Balkan countries to help develop alternatives to natural gas from Russia, a major regional supplier, adding that the EU was committed to a new round of eastward expansion.
She announced budget support worth 80 million euros to help North Macedonia deal with the impact of the high energy prices on households and businesses, adding that grants totaling 500 million euros would be made available to non-member states in the region to invest in energy connections, energy-efficient infrastructure and renewable energy.
“I’m deeply convinced that Europe and the European Union are not complete without North Macedonia,” she said. “We want to have you with us. We’re friends, we’re partners and one day we’re going to be in one European Union.”
EU officials did not announce details of the planned new Frontex deployment. Von der Leyen will travel on to Kosovo, Albania, Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro. [AP]
In related news, migrant arrivals in the first 9 months of the year were 80% higher than in the corresponding period in 2021, the Hellenic Migration and Asylum Ministry said on Tuesday.
It also noted that the number of migrants residing in the state was 54% lower, and that on the islands by 14%, in September compared to the same month last year.
In September, applications for asylum increased by 32%, and decisions at the first and secondary level by 7%, compared to the previous month.
In terms of outstanding asylum applications at first and secondary level, September saw an overall drop of 42% compared to the same month in 2021.
In the first 9 months of 2022, a total of 6,449 voluntary returns, expulsions and resettlements were carried out, considerably less than the 11,023 of arrivals during the same period.
In September, a total of 756,886 migrants resided legally in Greece, of whom 29% were EU citizens and persons of Greek origin, 63% were third-country citizens with long-term residence permits, and 8% with international protection and active residence permits.
The number of residence permits held by long-term investors totaled 10,697 in the same month.
In addition, a total of 21,039 applications were filed online by Ukrainian refugees, with a total of 19,783 temporary protection permits issued so far.
