Although visas should have been introduced with Turkey as well, the idea was abandoned after the Ankara government reacted strongly. Cynics could say that by trafficking in people, Bosnia-Herzegovina is evening its scores with the West. "You sent us depleted uranium, and we are sending you deprived illegals." Of course, the organizers of the business are getting richer by the day, and they are just using Bosnia's well-organized smuggling industry. Routes which are used to channel untaxed cigarettes, alcoholic beverages and coffee into Bosnia also serve to send illegals, drugs and arms in the opposite direction.
These skilled "entrepreneurs" make a profit while Bosnian citizens foot the bill. Instead of reaching the budget millions of dollars end up in the pockets of traffickers. Because Bosnia is known as a transit zone for illegal immigrants, there are few European countries that Bosnian citizens can enter without visas. If this practice continues, Bosnia-Herzegovina could easily become encircled by a "sanitary cordon." The announced arrival of Italian and British specialists to fight illegal immigration could help, but will certainly not suffice to resolve the problem. Adequate control of a 1,666-kilometer border can only be organized by the country's authorities. If, of course, they are truly willing to do so.
Only when all the holes through which smuggled goods and illegal immigrants freely move in and out of Bosnia are boarded up can Bosnian citizens expect the EU to open its borders to them, and to get a taste of what a "Europe without frontiers" is actually all about.