The order at the headquarters of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, in Warsaw, is to avoid confrontation with Italy. Even when Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni explains that Rome “has not received any emergency indications from Frontex”. According to the new executive director Hans Leijtens – who took office on 1 March – the agency must be as apolitical as possible. For this reason, when an official response to the phrases of the Italian prime minister is requested, Frontex spokesman Piotr Switalski does not comment. But he remembers that the rules of engagement are clear. Immediately after the shipwreck off the Calabrian coast, controversy erupted over the failed rescue when the boat with 180 migrants was 40 miles from Italy. The official position of Frontex is that the agency did what it was supposed to: report the presence of the vessel which was sailing “without showing signs of danger” but with several people on board as established by the thermal cameras installed on the aircraft patrolling the Sea Ionian.
But who was to launch the procedures for the safe recovery of migrants? According to Katarzyna Volkmann, from the agency’s press office, “the classification of an event as a ‘search and rescue’, according to international standards, is up to the national authorities”. “Frontex aircraft and drones patrol selected areas beyond the EU’s external borders as part of multipurpose aerial surveillance,” explains the agency. “If someone spots a boat in need of assistance, the agency informs the national authority responsible for rescue activities in the area and follows its instructions in line with international maritime law.”
“Locate a small vessel in the middle of the sea is a difficult task – clarifies the agency on the site -, which is why once a Frontex aircraft encounters one, it remains vigilant and continues to monitor the area until help arrives or until the plane is forced to leave due to low fuel». On the evening of 25 February, the Beechcraft 200 Super King Air chartered by Frontex, which was the first to spot the boat, had to return after almost four hours of flight because it was now dry.
«Med5» addresses Frontex, the organization that brings together five Mediterranean countries (including Italy). “The strengthening of the surveillance of both sea and land borders is an essential component of the fight against the smuggling of migrants”, writes “Med5” in the final document of yesterday’s summit in Malta where the Interior Minister was for Italy Matteo Piantedosi. “Frontex must allocate more resources to this task, including the surveillance of international waters” – it continues – also making available “substantial EU funds and means to support Member States in strengthening border protection capacities and infrastructures of the means of surveillance”.