EU's Frontex deploys border guards in joint operation with North Macedonia

A member of the European border and costal guard FRONTEX talks with a Macedonian policeman during the ceremony for the official start of the joint border control with Macedonian police in Skopje April 20, 2023. REUTERS/Ognen Teofilovski

The European Union's border agency, Frontex, started deploying guards at North Macedonia's southern border with Greece on Thursday in a joint operation with Skopje to control and prevent illegal migration and cross-border crime.

Under an agreement signed last October, Frontex will deploy more than 100 guards at the border, Frontex officials said. The agreement is valid until Jan. 24 2024 but may be extended.

North Macedonia is the fourth Western Balkan country to sign such a deal with Frontex, following Albania, Serbia and Montenegro.

Members of the European border and costal guard FRONTEX are seen during the ceremony for the official start of the joint operation with Macedonian police in Skopje April 20, 2023. REUTERS/Ognen Teofilovski

"We are no longer alone in the fight against illegal migrations," Interior Minister Oliver Spasovski said at an official ceremony marking the deployment.

He added that half of illegal entries in the EU were via the Western Balkan route, which has again become attractive to migrants this year.

A NATO member since 2019, North Macedonia wants to join the European Union and sees the agreement with Frontex as another step in that direction.

(Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic in Sarajevo; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)