EU support to the Integrated Border Management in BiH

The EU funded Twinning project “Support for the Implementation of the BiH Integrated Border Management (IBM) Strategy and Action Plan” is officially closed on 17 December 2012. The overall objective of the project was implementation of an efficient border management system in Bosnia and Herzegovina resulting in the functioning, open but controlled and secure borders.


The project consisted of four components and during the 2 years of its implementation it covered 14 planned activities in total. These activities addressed harmonisation of the relevant BiH IBM legislation with EU standards, enhancement of the monitoring structure for the implementation of the IBM Strategy, the harmonisation of the work of the border agencies, the development of common risk analysis and the support of data and information exchange between the border management agencies. In this course, among other activities, practical trainings from different work domains were conducted, such as “Processing of Common Risk Analysis, “Fight against Urgent Incident Cases at Border Crossing Points”, “Specific Control Procedures” and “Common Integrated Border Management”.


The project was jointly funded by the European Union in amount of 1.425.000€ from the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA), and BiH Ministry of Security in amount of 75.000€. The Austrian Agency for European Integration and Economic Development (AEI) in partnership with the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) ensured qualified and experienced experts from Austria, Germany, Finland, Slovenia and Hungary for project’s implementation. The duration of the project was 24 months and main beneficiaries were the agencies and institutions involved in Integrated Border Management in BiH, namely BiH Ministry of Security, BiH Border Police, BiH Indirect Taxation Authority, Service for Foreigners’ Affairs, State Veterinary Office, State Plant Health Administration of BiH, and the three Border Inspectorates established at the entities level and the Brcko District.


Both twinning partners pointed out that the project represents a significant step forward for BiH towards its road to the European family. The project provided administrative assistance and brought BiH into wider contact with the diversity of good practices inside the EU. In this sense, the beneficiaries of the Project were given the opportunity at the spot to be informed about the daily work of border agencies within several EU Member States.


The relationship and cooperation between all involved in the project, both from EU and BiH, was very professional and productive.

Europa.ba