BALKAN ROUTE: EU-Western Balkan Summit held in Brussels ― UK invests £10m to fight people smuggling in Western Balkans ― State authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina preparing to take over management of migration reception centres from IOM ― Frontex rep…

• EU and Western Balkan leaders held a high-level summit on 17 December in Brussels.
• The UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has hosted a meeting with her counterparts from the Western Balkans.
• State authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) are preparing to take over the management of migration reception centres from the International Organization for Migration in 2026.
• An internal EU report has found state authorities responsible for the deaths of three minors in December 2024 in Bulgaria.
• Three people have died after a boat capsized on a river on the Croatia-BiH border.
• New NGO research has predicted the impact of the EU Pact on Asylum and Migration on the Western Balkan migration route, with a particular focus on Serbia.

EU and Western Balkan leaders held a high-level summit on 17 December in Brussels. According to the declaration that was published at the end of the meeting, the participants described migration as a “shared challenge and responsibility and a key priority” and emphasised the need to strengthen “co-operation and strategic partnerships in migration management”. They also acknowledged the progress made in the field of migration-related areas and called for further action to “align visa policy, combat the smuggling of migrants, trafficking in human beings and all forms of serious and organised crime”.

The Brussels summit comes two months after UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper hosted a meeting with her counterparts from the Western Balkans. The meeting, which took place on 9 October in Belfast, was focused on efforts to manage migration along the Balkan route. Cooper used the opportunity to announce a £10m investment in initiatives aimed at tackling people smuggling in the Western Balkans and other key regions. According to a UK government press release, the funding will be used for inter alia ‘law enforcement training in Kosovo, stronger border security and help for potential trafficking victims in Serbia’.

State authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) are preparing to take over the management of migration reception centres from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in 2026. According to the Sarajevo Times newspaper, responsibility for the centres will be transferred from the IOM to the BiH Service for Foreign Affairs, which is  linked to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The newspaper also reported that the transfer was due to an “increased influx of migrants from the African region”.

An internal EU report has found state authorities responsible for the deaths of three minors in December 2024 in Bulgaria. The report by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency’s (Frontex) Fundamental Rights Office (FRO) into the tragedy in which three Egyptian minors died from hypothermia near to Bulgaria’s eastern border found that the authorities ‘failed to implement adequate measures in time’ leading to the loss of life and ‘likely’ obstructed rescue efforts. The FRO expressed ‘deep concern’ over the ‘repeated’ reports of unresponsiveness to distress calls, pushbacks and inhumane or degrading treatment of people on the move. However, the NGO Collettivo Rotte Balcaniche, whose volunteers tried to rescue the three victims, denounced Frontex  for “shamefully using” their deaths as an opportunity to boost its presence in Bulgaria. “If Frontex is serious about its allegations, it can only cease immediately any collaboration or support of Bulgarian authorities,” it wrote in a press release.

Three people have died after a boat capsized on a river on the Croatia-BiH border. The tragedy occurred on 11 December on the Sava River near the town of Slavonski Brod. According to the Germany Press Agency (DPA), Croatian firefighters also rescued 11 other people from the boat, some of whom required hospital treatment.

New NGO research has predicted the impact of the EU Pact on Asylum and Migration on the Western Balkan migration route, with a particular focus on Serbia. The analysis, which was undertaken by Statewatch, has identified a number of expected outcomes, including a shift from tolerated transit to containment through increased investment in policing, fast-tracking procedures and pushbacks; a broader application of the “duty to co-operate” in processes such as “voluntary return” and return counselling; a growing crackdown on NGOs and grassroots groups providing assistance or documenting human rights violations; and the expanded use of digital surveillance tools.

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