Discussion Paper

However, the EU’s response to increasing migrant influx in BiH did not come across locally as a genuine humanitarian gesture and a ‘helping hand’ offered in times of crisis, but rather as another form of financial haggling instrument for managing the crisis in the territories outside of the EU, and for testing the readiness of various BiH government actors in managing the situation effectively. The most recent public discourses related to the EU distribution models of the crisis management support funding have strongly resembled the language EU officials in Brussels and in BiH often use when discussing the EU enlargement process and BiH’s accession prospects.

This discussion paper argues that the EU (un)intentionally uses a so-called ‘pseudo- conditionality’ action pattern and discourse in supporting the migration crisis management in BiH, and that financial funds and other resources provided came with ‘political strings attached’. The analysis of the available official documents, interviews with relevant institutional representatives, and examination of media reports on the course of negotiations with the local stakeholders indicate that the EU assistance programs were framed in consistence with the EU’s direct interests of strengthening its external border and keeping the migrants and refugees in BiH as long as possible, and not in a form of humanitarian assistance or aid.