Strengthening Regional Cooperation in Migration Management Between the Western Balkans and Neighboring EU Member States in Accordance with EU Acquis and International Standards – MIRCO

The MIRCO Project is co-financed by the European Union and contracted by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) through the European Union (EU) initiative Migration Partnership Facility (MPF). The project is implemented by the Swedish Migration Agency in close cooperation with its partner, the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration of the Republic of Serbia.

The project will contribute to enhancing regional cooperation in the field of migration management, strengthening good neighbourly relations, and implementing the external dimension of the Common European Asylum System in the Western Balkans region.

In addition to the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration of the Republic of Serbia, the project beneficiaries include the Ministries of Interior of Montenegro and North Macedonia, and the Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Supporting the project as associated partners are the Ministries of Interior of Slovenia, Austria, and the Ministry for Migration and Asylum of Greece.

The overall goal of the project is to strengthen the implementation of migration and asylum policies and procedures in the Western Balkans, in line with the EU acquis.

The project will be implemented through the following three components:

1. Expand and transform the Training Centre for Migration, within the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration, into a digital Regional Migration Training Centre that will contribute to capacity building and enhancing regional cooperation in migration management—including legal and irregular migration, integration, return, reintegration, as well as internal and external migration—between Western Balkan partners and neighbouring EU Member States, in accordance with the EU acquis, international standards, and the provisions of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum.
2. Strengthen the institutional capacities of Western Balkan partner countries to provide services and protection to migrants in line with the EU acquis and international standards.
3. Establish mechanisms and networks to enhance international cooperation between Western Balkan countries, neighbouring EU Member States, and other international and regional migration training centres with the aim of developing national migration and asylum systems in the Western Balkans from an international perspective and in accordance with EU regulations.

The project, with a total value of €1,909,928.85, is planned to last 24 months, from May 15, 2024, to May 14, 2026.