"The role of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency in the management and protection of the EU's external borders" 11/2/2019

As part of the training seminar “Management of the EU’s external borders in the Eastern Mediterranean”, the 2nd session titled “The role of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency in the management and protection of the EU’s external borders” took place on 11 February 2019.

The speakers tried, through examples and personal experiences, to familiarize the audience with the concepts of mountain ranges, sea and air borders in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean, as well as, the procedures for managing the borders.

Mr. G. Apostolou, head of the FRONTEX Liaison Office in Greece, made a brief historical review since the establishment of FRONTEX, focusing on its role and cooperation with the Member States. He then described, in detail, the tasks of the organization and its actions and completed his speech by raising the question of whether the Member States, and in particular Greece, were provided with adequate support.

Lieutenant Commander. G. Christianos focused on FRONTEX’s collaboration with the Integrated Maritime Surveillance Service (IOTHE), specifically referring to Operation POSEIDON 2018. He presented the Greek marine environment as an operational field of both, Police and Coast Guard Operations as means for more effective surveillance of the maritime borders.

Finally, Assoc. Professor I. Stribis analyzed the Regulation 2016/1624 of the European Parliament on the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, the European Commission’s proposal and the European Council’s stand. He then described the special references for maritime borders and concluded with the management of business plans within them.