On 26 June, Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri, together with Giovanni Pinto, Director for Immigration and Border Police and the Deputy Director of Europol, Wil van Gemert, visited the premises offered by the Italian authorities to host the EU Regional Task Force in Catania, Sicily.
During the visit, Fabrice Leggeri signed an exchange of letters with Italian Ministry of Interior and the Municipality of Catania related to the use of the building.
The new premises have been set up as part of the hot spot approach recommended by the European Commission’s Agenda on Migration. In the past weeks inter- agency talks have taken place between Frontex, Europol, EASO and Eurojust with a view to creating an EU Regional Task Force to coordinate and render more efficient the work of the EU agencies involved in the field.
‘The aim of the Task Force is to bring EU Agencies jointly closer to the areas most affected by disproportionate migratory flows - said Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri. ‘Frontex will remain in Italy for as long as our assistance is required’ – he added.
The Task Force will also provide logistical and operational support both to the experts and technical equipment deployed in the framework of Frontex coordinated joint operation Triton and Europol - led Joint Operational Team MARE.
The Frontex component of the Task Force will initially be composed of four operational officers who will work closely with Italian liaison officers from national bodies responsible for operational coordination, intelligence-gathering and the fight against people smuggling and human trafficking networks.