FRONEX officers placed on Kosovo- Albania

Police officers from the European Borders Agency, Frontex, have been deployed on the border between Kosovo and Albania.

They are helping Kosovo authorities fight criminality as well as identifying forged documents.

Isabel Wiweiór from the Frontex Information Office has told Radio Free Europe that the deployment of police officers to the borders of Western Balkan countries is aimed at strengthening co-operation with countries outside the European Union.

“Frontex is currently present at the Kosovo- Albania within the Co-ordination Point of Joint Operations, please. This operation has been implemented since late February of this year. Frontex has placed two high-level officers assisting local authorities in uncovering forged documents”, Wiweiór has said.

Kosovo is not the only country of the region in which Frontex police officers have been deployed, as officials from the agency have also been deployed in Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro.

About 100 police officers have been deployed throughout the region.

Frontex's “Police assist national authorities in uncovering forged documents, stolen cars and illegal drugs. At this moment, almost 100 police officers are deployed in the Western Balkans”, official Wiewíór said.

The decision to send these officers under this agency has been made following the large influx of migrants aimed at EU member states.

According to Frontex, the huge influx of migrants crossing the Western Balkans route, from 2015 to the first quarter of 2016, sent to the discovery of an unprecedented number of illegal crossings to the borders of Hungary and Croatia with Serbia.

In addition to specialised officers stationed at various border points, Frontex has also deployed border surveillance vehicles, as well as other equipment in Hungary and Croatia.

Earlier this year this agency released a report in which the Western Balkan route remains a key corridor into heroin entry into the EU.

According to this report, criminal groups in Kosovo and Albania, together with other criminal groups from the Balkans, have an important role in smuggling and distributing heroin through European Union member states.

In May 2016, Kosovo has signed co-operation agreements with Frontex, the European Union's specialised border management agency and fighting all cross-border crimes.