Identity Check: Smart Borders and Migration Management as Touchstones for EU-Readiness and - Belonging

Abstract

Following the Second World War Europe has witnessed profound transformations in the way European states try to regulate cross-border movements of people. The emergence of so-called smart borders and the concept of migration management are very important developments in this respect. This chapter discusses these innovative approaches and concepts in migration governance as important milestones of the EU accession process of two close European neighbours to the EU: Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Citizens of these two countries recently have been allowed to travel to Schengen states without a visa, provided they have biometric passports. Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina still feature prominently in EU discussions concerning migration, asylum, refugees, and the return of migrants and refugees. As a consequence, the EU has been using a set of measures to exert influence on the two countries, their state-building efforts, institutional reforms, and, in particular, their border and migration control strategies. This chapter vividly demonstrates the close link between migration as a process, the political attempts to govern/manage migration and borders, and, at the same time, the extent to which migration policies are embedded in, and, as well, form vital components of more overarching attempts of recreating order, peace and structure and determine the EU process.