EU border guards to be deployed in Montenegro

By Agnes Szucs

BRUSSELS (AA) - The EU will deploy its border guards in Montenegro to manage migration flows.

In a statement, the Council of the EU announced in a statement that it decided to sign an agreement on EU Border and Coast Guard Agency’s (Frontex) operational activities in Montenegro.

The deal allows “Frontex border management teams to be deployed in Montenegro” and joint operations to be organized, it said.

The EU border guards will be able to assist Montenegro with managing migratory flows, countering illegal immigration, and tackling cross-border crime, the statement said.

The measures will be “provisionally” applied from July 1, it added.

Frontex has been repeatedly criticized by the European Parliament and human rights watchdogs for assisting Greek authorities in illegal pushbacks of asylum-seekers at sea and land borders.