Workshop on the impact of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum on Bosnia and Herzegovina

Published on: 26 May 2025

Hilfswerk International, as part of the project “Strengthening Migration Management, Asylum and Return Processes in the Western Balkans”, organized a workshop that took place in Mostar from 20 to 22 May 2025, bringing together 28 participants including representatives of the Ministry of Security of BiH, the Service for Foreigners' Affairs, the Border Police of BiH, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Directorate for European Integration. The aim of this workshop was to analyze the content of the new EU Pact on Migration and Asylum and its impact on Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Pact aims to create a unified, comprehensive and permanent framework for migration and asylum management throughout the European Union, with the aim of harmonizing and coordinating the way in which EU Member States manage migration and asylum; balancing responsibility and solidarity with improving efficiency and legality in the aforementioned territory. In this way, efforts are directed towards securing borders and improving migration policy in the context and framework of broader international cooperation.

The workshop provided participants with more adequate knowledge about the Pact, which aims to promote uniformity of procedures and procedural standards applicable to all asylum seekers in EU Member States. As the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum has an extremely complex legal framework, it requires a two-year preparation of the institutional framework of EU countries. Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as other Western Balkan countries, tend to undertake a multi-phase process of activities aimed at adopting national strategies and action plans in the field of migration and asylum. Such documents should foresee all the impacts of the Pact on individual areas on the basis of which strategic activities in the field of legislative amendments, capacity building and inter-institutional cooperation will be further implemented.

The workshop participants advocated for further educational initiatives involving domestic and international experts, as well as the initiation of regional workshops to encourage better cooperation on strategic planning of activities in accordance with the Pact. By fostering dialogue, building expertise and jointly developing a strategy, each country should take concrete steps to ensure a well-informed and strategically sound approach to this critical area of European integration. The results of such workshops will undoubtedly serve as a valuable basis for future development and implementation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This meeting was organized as part of the project “Strengthening Migration Management, Asylum and Return Processes in the Western Balkans” financed by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and the Federal Ministry of the Interior of Austria.

More about the project: https://hwi.ba/en/projects/refugees-migrants-displaced-persons/strengthening-migration-management-asylum-and-return-processes-in-the-western-balkans/22

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