It has been an
eventful week at Frontex, which will have a significant impact on the agency’s
long-term cooperation with various partners, as well as matters related to
transparency and protection of fundamental rights. The agency’s representatives
went on a tour across Europe to attend a series of high-level meetings.
Monday: JHA Council and launch of
Support Hub in Moldova
The Czech EU Presidency
invited EU home affairs ministers, the European Commission, the European
Parliament, JHA agencies, but also Ukrainian and Moldovan ministers to discuss
the impact of the war in Ukraine on security and cross-border crime, EU external
borders’ management and challenges related to migration. Frontex Executive
Director a.i. Aija Kalnaja briefed the Council on the agency’s response to the
crisis and how Frontex jointly with other agencies and Member States is
tackling arising challenges and threats.
The ministers
agreed on the need for close cooperation with Ukrainian and Moldovan
authorities and that the EU Member States, Ukraine and Moldova should systematically
exchange data on the investigations of human trafficking, document forgery,
money laundering, arms trafficking, and other types of crime as well as on
hybrid threats related to the war in Ukraine. Europol, Frontex, and Eurojust
should play an important role in sharing information with Ukraine and Moldova.
On the margins
of the Council, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson, Moldovan
Interior Minister Ana Revenco and Frontex Executive Director a.i. Aija Kalnaja took
part in the launch of the EU Support Hub for Internal Security and Border
Management in Moldova.
A Frontex
officer deployed to the Hub in Chişinău will coordinate with the Moldovan
authorities the support that Frontex provides in border management and detection
of cross-border crime, especially firearms trafficking.
Tuesday: EP hearings
The Frontex
Scrutiny Working Group (FSWG), established within the EP Committee on Civil
Liberties, Justice, and Home Affairs (LIBE Committee), met to discuss the
conditions under which Frontex operations could be suspended in case of violations
of fundamental rights. The FSWG meeting was attended by Executive Director a.i.
Aija Kalnaja and Frontex Fundamental Rights Officer Jonas Grimheden.
Executive
Director a.i. explained application of article 46 and its implications. She also underlined the cooperation
with the Fundamental Rights Officer on the next steps. The Fundamental Rights
Officer stressed the constructive cooperation with Frontex staff and management.
The recording
of the hearing can be found here.
Wednesday: CONT
Committee
Frontex ED ad
interim Aija Kalnaja, Chairman of the Management Board Alexander Fritsch and
Deputy Director-General for Migration and Home Affairs in the European
Commission Olivier Onidi participated in a Budgetary Control (CONT) Committee
hearing on the recent changes in the management of the agency, following the
departure of its previous director, as well as the agency’s reactions to
allegations of breaches of fundamental rights.
“It’s a
challenge but also an opportunity to move forward now and to restore the
reputation of the agency in the eyes of the public. […] The 2019 conditions
have been implemented: three Deputy Executive Directors were recruited and are
now leading the agency. The Serious Incident Reporting mechanism was adapted
and we have now a fully-fledged fundamental rights monitoring system in place. I
invite everyone in the house to come to the agency and to the operational
theatre to see what our work looks like. We welcome you,” said Kalnaja.
Next week (Wednesday),
the CONT Committee will visit Frontex HQ and meet with the executive management,
as well as with the Fundamental Rights Officer.
The video of
the hearing can be found here.
Wednesday and Thursday: COSI
Committee
An informal
meeting of the Standing Committee on Operational Cooperation on Internal
Security (COSI) took place in Prague. It was organised by the Czech Presidency
of the Council of the European Union and attended by Deputy Executive Director
for Information Management Uku Särekanno.
The meeting
focused on the impact of the war in Ukraine on the internal security of the EU,
and implementation of sanctions against the Russian Federation and Belarus.
Other topics discussed included fight against child sexual abuse and
cooperation with the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions- the EUCAP
Sahel Niger and EUAM Ukraine.
The Deputy
Executive Director assured that in the past months the EU demonstrated
solidarity and commitment to strengthen border management amid an unprecedented
humanitarian and security crisis and ensure that those fleeing the war were welcomed
with dignity and respect and did not fall prey to organised crime or other
kinds of mistreatment.
Friday: Signing of Working
Arrangement with EUCAP Sahel Niger
A Working
Arrangement between Frontex and the European Union Capacity Building Mission in
Niger was signed in Brussels by Frontex Executive Director ad interim Aija
Kalnaja and EUCAP Sahel Niger Head of Mission, Antje Pittelkau.
“I am pleased that Frontex and EUCAP
Sahel Niger will now formalise existing cooperation through the conclusion of
the Working Arrangement. I very much appreciate the efforts undertaken to
strengthen our relations and to increase our cooperation. For Frontex EUCAP
Sahel is a priority CSDP Mission, that we aim to develop a structured and
long-term cooperation with,” said Director Kalnaja
“We will
focus on promoting IBM standards and on developing situations awareness and
risk analysis. Within those two overarching areas we will work on combatting
cross-border crime, including terrorism and document, and on preventing illegal
migration,” said Kalnaja.
The event took
place during the official visit of Niger’s Interior Minister to Brussels, in
the presence of Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson and the Minister
of Interior of Niger, Hamadou Adamou Souley, who earlier held a bilateral
meeting.
Director
Kalnaja said that she was looking forward to successful and long-term
cooperation between the two sides.
