Eleftheria joined the Frontex standing corps after 22 years of service in the Hellenic Police.
In her professional career, she performed many border control tasks, from registration and interviews with migrants, issuing Schengen visas, to checking documents at border crossing points.
“I am deployed at the Bulgarian-Turkish border as an Advanced Level Document Officer. On a daily basis, I deal with a countless number of documents issued by different countries and institutions.
How do we check whether a document is authentic? It takes a lot of practice. We analyse the security features of documents and consult databases.
Every document has its own smell, specific sound and a special feeling when you touch it. Each of them tells a story.
Our role is not only to spot criminals, but also identify persons in need of international protection. The standing corps is here to keep the European Union and its citizens safe.”
Advanced level document officers are trained to
spot forged or counterfeit documents. They have knowledge of security features
of travel documents and in their daily work use magnifiers, microscopes and
databases. They work in hotspots, as well as at border crossing points and
airports.
