On August 6th, 2024, Mr. Bogdan Despescu, Chief Police Commissioner, and Mr. Mihai-Cătălin Necula, State Secretaries within the Ministry of Internal Affairs, had a meeting with a delegation of the Frontex Agency, led by Mr. Lars Gerdes , deputy executive director for returns and operations.
A delegation of the Romanian Border Police, led by Mr. Inspector General, Police Quaestor Cornel Laurian Stoica, also participated in the activity.
This meeting is an integrated part of the official program of the Frontex delegation, in the context of its participation in the complex maritime exercise organized within the Joint Operation ROMANIA 2024 – Multipurpose Maritime Operation in the Black Sea – MMO Western Black Sea 2024 (the Romanian Border Police participated in an international search and rescue exercise on sea – Border Police).
The purpose of the meeting was to exchange opinions on topics of common interest. The participants appreciated the cooperation relationship that Romania, through the Ministry of Internal Affairs, developed with Frontex, our country being one of the main contributors to strengthening the operational capacity of the Agency, both with personnel and equipment.
Equally, the Romanian representatives emphasized the importance of a coordinated response to the challenges faced by the Union, a context in which the consistent support of Frontex is essential to manage illegal migration, to prevent and combat any form of cross-border crime. In the context, they specified that the date of March 31st, 2024, when the internal air and sea border controls were lifted, was a very important moment for Romania, being the result of more than a decade of efforts, all measures being taken for to face new operational challenges and to keep everything running smoothly.
The participants assessed the status and prospects of bilateral cooperation, highlighting that joint measures and mutual support have proven their effectiveness, the results being very good.
Romanian officials emphasized the fact that illegal migration has decreased substantially at the EU level, Romania does not face migratory pressure, the operational situation at all borders, including the one with Ukraine, being managed very well. At the same time, the Romanian authorities are ready to implement the new systems that are to be operationalized at the EU level and continue to successfully develop a series of pilot projects – such as the pilot project at the border with Serbia – on the basis of which good practices are developed and application of new operational concepts.
The Frontex representatives appreciated that Romania is among the top European states that implement such projects, which contribute, among other things, to the consolidation of the Agency at the European level or to the future implementation of the Pact on migration and asylum.
Frontex representatives reiterated the Agency’s support for Romania’s full accession to the Schengen area, which our country should have been a part of for a long time, given the high level of preparation, and pledged to continue supporting the achievement of this goal with human resources and logistics.
It was agreed to continue cooperation both operationally and at the level of training specialists from law enforcement structures with duties in the integrated management of external borders, return and combating cross-border criminality.
