The Regional Meeting on API (Advanced Passenger Information) and PNR (Passenger Name Record), held in Tirana on 23 - 24 March 2022, brought together over 35 representatives from Albania, BiH, Kosovo[1], Montenegro, North Macedonia and EU in Albania to discuss the latest development of API and PNR, as well as further cooperation among the Western Balkans.

 The meeting was co-organized between the IPA 2019 project “Countering Serious Crime in the Western Balkans” supported by EU,  but the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Italian Ministry of Interior and the Western Balkans Integrated Border Management Facility (WBIBM) funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Denmark.  Both projects aim to reinforce cooperation in fighting organized crime and enhance border security and migration management, as a high priority in the enlargement perspective for EU engagement with the Western Balkans.

“In order that countries of the Western Balkans could operationalize the API/PNR systems, solid national legislation needs to be in place, setting out rules on passenger data collection and specifying provisions on the use, transfer and retention of data. WBIBM facility therefore aims to conduct legislative consultations on API/PNR in the Western Balkans, address training needs of respective passenger information units (PIUs) in this regard and draft standard operating procedures (SOPs) for their functioning" said Ms. Jovana Gusic, IOM Sub-Regional Coordinator of the WBIBM Facility. 

The four-year project “Western Balkans Integrated Border Management Capacity Building Facility (WBIBM)” will be implemented in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, the Republic of Serbia and Kosovo[2], under the overall coordination and management of IOM Belgrade.

For more information read the WBIBM info sheet.