Thursday, September 09, 2021
Latvia wants more border guards
Frontex accuses Brussels of unclear asylum rules
The European agency Frontex is supposed to help the member states protect their external borders. But the authority complains about legal uncertainty and demands from Brussels to ensure a uniform line. Meanwhile, Latvia is demanding help against migrants from Belarus.
The head of the EU border protection agency Frontex, Fabrice Leggeri, complains about legal uncertainties in the operations of his officers. “At the moment I have the impression that there are a lot of European regulations, but a clear reading at EU level is missing,” Leggeri told the “Welt”. For example, he asked the EU Commission in writing whether a new law allows Lithuania to require that migrants can only apply for asylum at official border crossings, Leggeri said. But he is still waiting for the answer. “The Commission is the guardian of the Treaties,” said Leggeri. You need clear rules.
Frontex was founded by the EU in 2004 and expanded into the European Border and Coast Guard Agency after the refugee crisis that began in 2015. The actual border protection still falls under the responsibility of the member states, but the agency is actually supposed to ensure joint management of the external borders and provide effective support to national border protection units if necessary.
Illegal pushbacks
Instead of visible progress, however, there has recently been mainly criticism of the work of Frontex units. Among other things, it concerns possible illegal rejections of persons seeking protection at the EU’s external borders – so-called pushbacks. According to media reports, Greek border guards have illegally driven boats with migrants back towards Turkey several times. Frontex officials are said to have been nearby and not prevented it.
Frontex boss Leggeri told the “Welt” on the subject: “As far as Greece is concerned, I would not just speak of ‘pushbacks’.” There are situations in the sea between Turkey and Greece that are not emergency situations because the boats are not out of control. “They try to evade border controls and are allegedly used for criminal activities,” said the Frenchman. Then the legal framework for interception of boats applies.
Eastern Europe would like Frontex to be more active
In the border conflict with Belarus, Latvian President Egils Levits called for increased protection of the EU’s external borders in Eastern Europe. “Here an even stronger commitment of the European border protection agency Frontex would make sense,” said Levits in an interview with the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”. Thousands of migrants from the Middle East had crossed the border from Belarus into the EU in recent months. According to the EU, the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko is behind this.
With a view to the instrumentalization of migrants by Lukashenko, Levits said: “It is important that we send out the clear signal: We will not allow ourselves to be blackmailed. I agree with my counterparts from Estonia, Lithuania and Poland on this.” The migrants who have crossed the Belarusian border into the EU in recent months are “hardly refugees, but mainly people who want to live in Europe,” said Levits. Most of them wanted to move on to Germany.
Brussels suspects that the Belarusian authorities are deliberately bringing migrants into the country from the Middle East and smuggling them to the borders with Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. According to the EU, Lukashenko intends to use this procedure to retaliate against European sanctions decisions.
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