Maritime

Romanian Border Police help monitor the borders of Europe in the Aegean Sea

The Romanian Border Police will participate in the Joint Operation “POSEIDON 2020”, organized by the European Agency for Border Police and Coast Guard (FRONTEX), with the maritime patrol ship MAI 1103 from the Coast Guard, which will be deployed in the Aegean Sea for 3 months. On 18.05.2020, the ship MAI 1103 left on a mission from the Port of Mangalia, from the headquarters of the Mangalia Ship Group.

Between 18.05-14.08.2020, the Romanian Border Police will participate, according to the commitments assumed by Romania as an EU member state, in Operation “POSEIDON 2020”, organized under the auspices of FRONTEX, by detaching the maritime patrol ship MAI 1103 – project P- 157 of the Coast Guard.

The Romanian Border Police patrol vessel and the two crews, rotating on board, will carry out patrol, surveillance, search and rescue missions in the Aegean Sea for 3 months, together with the technical means and crews of the other Member States. EU participants in the operation.

Also, within the same joint operation, the Border Police will deploy two liaison officers within the International Coordination Center – ICC in Piraeus, who will permanently maintain the connection between the maritime ship seconded by PFR on the territory of Greece and the IGPF Operational Coordination Center. , as well as between the seagoing ship and the representatives of the Maritime Operations Sector within the FRONTEX Agency.

Background information

The main objective of the Joint Operation “POSEIDON 2020” is to provide support to the Greek authorities in the surveillance and control of the European Union ‘s maritime borders, as well as to search for and rescue persons in distress at sea at the European Union’ s external border.

The aim is to develop joint measures to manage the migration flow at the maritime borders of the Community, to intervene in cases of search and rescue of persons in difficulty at sea (Search and Rescue), to increase the efficiency of data exchange and information between the authorities involved in the operation. , as well as an effective exchange of experience and good practice between European border guards.

The activity is a continuation of the operations organized by the FRONTEX Agency for the management of illegal migration flows, within which the Romanian Border Police had a significant contribution, both in terms of technical means and in terms of number, profiles and the professionalism of the seconded experts, the assessments coming both from the European border authorities and from the Frontex Agency.

We mention the fact that Operation “POSEIDON 2020”, in which the Romanian border guards take part, is financed by the European Union and coordinated by the Frontex Agency, and the responsibility for the information in the press material belongs to the Romanian Border Police.