EU in Balkans migration talks

Senior European Union officials and representatives of five Balkan states are meeting in Sarajevo today to discuss the problem of illegal migration.

The agenda is expected to include people smuggling, visa policies and asylum systems.

The United Nations estimates that up to fifty-thousand people passed through Bosnia alone last year on their way to western Europe.

The BBC correspondent in Sarajevo says the migrants take advantage of Bosnia's porous borders and chaotic law enforcement.

She says the EU has been urging the country to tighten its visa and border policies, but the Bosnian authorities say more aid is needed to stop the trafficking of people across its borders.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service