ABSTRACT
Migration and mobility as well as cooperation in the broader area of justice and home affairs (JHA) is an increasingly important topic in the relations between the EU and its East European neighbors. The bilateral Partnership and Cooperation Agreements concluded with the post-Soviet countries in the first half of the 1990s already included a title devoted to ‘cooperation on prevention of illegal activities’ as well as a declaration regarding the issuing of visas and the prospective conclusion of readmission agreements. The EU’s Eastward enlargement as well as its expanding competences regarding the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ) intensified the need for close cooperation on issues such as the tackling of organized crime, the management of migration and the fight against terrorism. It is, therefore, no coincidence that questions of internal security and migration figure high on the agenda of the EU’s relations with its Eastern neighbors.
