Nr. 11-12/2010 - Politia de Frontiera

The Schengen area
is only as strong
as its weakest link
The answers
of the Executive Director of Frontex,
Mr. Ilkka Laitinen,
to the “Frontiera interview”
as a follow-up of the visit in September.
- Mr. Executive Director, please tell us about the
purpose of the visit to Romania.
- Member States are the key stakeholders of Frontex.
Effectiveness of Frontex activities is highly depending on
Member States willingness to work together in the activities
coordinated by Frontex. It is important for me as an Executive
Director of Frontex to visit and discuss regularly with the
stakeholders of the Agency in order to ensure that there is
a dialogue between national and European levels. I paid
my previous visit to Romania in 2006, so I consider that
now, after four years, is a good time for me to visit Romania
again. I appreciate a lot the efforts that the Romanian Border
Police has made for hosting my visit.
- Considering that Romania is the second longest EU
external border, how is the cooperation with the Romanian
party assessed both from the quality and quantity point of
view, at Frontex level?
- Romanian Border Police has participated in more than
70 Frontex coordinated Joint Operations so far. That figure is
relatively high on EU level, so Romanian Border Police can
be proud of its activeness. Even more active participation
in the joint European activities in the future is one of the
key issues for the further development of Romanian Border
Police. The latest technical developments in Romania like
the SCOMAR border surveillance system and the new
offshore patrol vessel show are important for the situation
awareness and reaction capacity.
- Are there certain standards in what regards the
number of border policemen per kilometer at the EU
external border? Which are these?
- Activies at the EU external borders should always be
planned and targeted based on risk analysis. Situational
awaress enabling a proper response is the key issue for
border security. In accordance with the Schengen Borders
Code Member States shall deploy appropriate staff and
resources in sufficient numbers to carry out border control
at the external borders in such a way as to ensure an
efficient, high and uniform level of control at their external
borders.
- Do you consider that Romania’s and Bulgaria’s
accession to Schengen will determine changes in the
dynamics of the cross-border crime phenomenon in the
Black Sea region?
- Romania and Bulgaria are likely to become parties
to the Schengen agreement. Thus, the area of free travel
with no internal controls will expand to the shores of the
Black Sea, making the two Member States more attractive
for illegal migration flows transiting through Turkey. At the
moment more than 90 % of all the detections of the illegal
border crossings at the EU external borders take place in
Greece. The situation at the Hungarian-Serbian border is
a continuation of the events in southern Greece. As those
migrants move north towards their destination countries,
they typically transit the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia and Serbia with a view to re-entering the EU
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