On November 25-26, a delegation of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), headed by Mr. Hans LEIJTENS, Executive Director of the Agency, was on a working visit to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Border Police. During the visit, the officials were accompanied by the Head of the Romanian Border Police, Police Quaestor CORNEL-LAURIAN STOICA, the Deputy Inspector General of the National Police of Hungary, Major General of Police Dr. János Zoltán KUCZIK and the Director of the General Directorate of Border Police in Bulgaria, Chief Commissioner dr. Anton ZLATANOV.
Frontex officials, accompanied by a delegation of the Romanian Border Police, led by the General Inspector of the Border Police, Police Quaestor CORNEL-LAURIAN STOICA, visited the Giurgiu-Ruse Border Crossing Point. On this occasion, the activities carried out by border guards, the technique and capabilities they use to supervise and secure the state border in the joint missions they carry out were presented. At the same time, the good cooperation with the Bulgarian side was highlighted, with emphasis on joint control, and the compensatory measures that the two states are to implement after the integration into the Schengen area with the land borders were discussed.
The means of mobility present today at this parade are mainly used for the surveillance of the external border of Romania, while complying with the technical requirements necessary to meet
During the visit, the Frontex delegation was also received at the headquarters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, by the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr. Catalin PREDOIU and the State Secretaries General Police Quaestor Bogdan DESPESCU and Chief Police Quaestor Mihai Catalin NECULA.
The meeting was part of the constant action carried out by the Minister of Internal Affairs to promote Romania's entry into the Schengen Area and the technical preparation of this step.
"Success in the Schengen file requires not only political and diplomatic actions, but also a whole range of technical operations that we develop through the Border Police. Cooperation with FRONTEX and border police in Bulgaria and Hungary, Austria and Serbia is also important. Schengen involves enormous work in the field, done excellently by colleagues from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Border Police and the Romanian Police.", said Mr. Catalin PREDOIU.
An exchange of views was also carried out on topics of common interest in the field of management of the EU's external borders. The participants highlighted the solid cooperation relationship between Romania, through the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and Frontex, our country being a significant contributor to the operational capacity of the Agency, both with staff and with equipment.
Currently, 16.6% (423 out of 2,549) of the Agency's own staff are Romanian, highlighting the significant effort that our country is making to effectively support the Agency's work.
On the last day of the activity, Frontex officials were also at the IGPF headquarters where they visited the Operational Coordination Center – an essential organizational component within the institution for integrated border management, displaying the capabilities of the Romanian Border Police, in order to ensure a high level of surveillance and control of the external borders of the European Union.
At the same time, the officials also visited the headquarters of the ETIAS National Unit – European Travel Information and Authorization System, a structure of the General Inspectorate of Border Police that hosts the activity of the command team of Contingent 1 that ensures the coordination of Frontex resource detachments in the operational areas of Romania, Bulgaria, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia.
The participants assessed the current status and prospects of bilateral cooperation, highlighting the effectiveness of the joint measures adopted so far, which have generated very good results and contributed to the completion of the most important objective for the MIA – accession to the Schengen area.
During the meeting, the Romanian delegation expressed appreciation for the opportunity to host the headquarters of Frontex Contingent 1 and reaffirmed the availability of its development by adding new functionalities especially on the logistics component (the concept of "antenna office" provided by Regulation 1896/2019), given the geographical position of our country, which will facilitate the monitoring and coordination of operations in a key region, amplifying Romania's active role in the implementation of European policies. Romania also reaffirmed its readiness to host Frontex training programs, providing an optimal environment in terms of infrastructure and trainers.
Frontex representatives appreciated that Romania is among the top European states implementing such projects and reiterated the Agency's support for Romania's full accession to the Schengen area, committing to continue supporting the achievement of this objective with human and logistical resources.
It was agreed to continue cooperation both at the operative level and at the level of training of specialists within the law enforcement structures with responsibilities in the integrated management of external borders, return and combating cross-border crime.
