FRONTEX PRESENCE GROWING TO CONFRONT GREECE'S MIGRATION WAVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ATHENS 001641

SIPDIS
AMEMBASSY ANKARA PASS TO AMCONSUL ADANA
AMEMBASSY ASTANA PASS TO USOFFICE ALMATY
AMEMBASSY BERLIN PASS TO AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF
AMEMBASSY BERLIN PASS TO AMCONSUL LEIPZIG
AMEMBASSY BELGRADE PASS TO AMEMBASSY PODGORICA
AMEMBASSY HELSINKI PASS TO AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG
AMEMBASSY ATHENS PASS TO AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/11/19
TAGS: PREL SMIG KCRM PTER EUN GR
SUBJECT: FRONTEX PRESENCE GROWING TO CONFRONT GREECE'S MIGRATION WAVE

REF: ATHENS 1503; ATHENS 1471

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CLASSIFIED BY: Deborah McCarthy, DCM; REASON: 1.4(B),(D)

Summary

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1. (SBU) In keeping with one of its main social (and now security)
challenges - the growing tide of illegal migrants arriving by sea
after transiting Turkey - Greece has sought greater support from
the EU, and has found a partner in FRONTEX, the EU's border
security agency. FRONTEX has become increasingly active and
visible, reflecting the organization's assessment that Greece is
"the main entry point for illegal immigrants into Europe." The
Aegean-based Operation Poseidon is FRONTEX's largest operation, and
EU member states are steadily increasing their contributions of
personnel and resources. FRONTEX currently has about 40 guest
officers present in Greece at any time, rotating in on one-month
TDYs. But this presence remains relatively small compared to the
size of the migration flows and the large amount of Greek coastline
in the Aegean. It is also making news, including because of
several incidents of harassment by Turkish radar operators. End
Summary.



An Increasing Presence at the "Gate of Europe"

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2. (U) Visiting Athens in October, FRONTEX Deputy Executive
Director Gil Arias Fernandez told the press that Greece "remains
the main entry point for illegal immigrants in Europe." Asked how
the situation compared to other EU border states, Arias Fernandez
said that in 2008 and 2009, "the numbers of illegal arrivals to the
Canary Islands, for example, dropped significantly and this trend
has started to spread across the Mediterranean region." He said
that, in contrast, the number of illegal arrivals in Greece
increased in both 2008 and 2009, with an increasing proportion of
them coming by sea. Asked to explain why the trend in Greece was
moving in the opposite direction of other Mediterranean members of
the EU, Arias Fernandez cited Italy's and Spain's cooperation with
third countries: repatriation pacts with Libya and Senegal,
deployment of Spanish police officers to Africa, and patrols of
third countries' territorial waters. He noted that Greece had been
unable to achieve this kind of cooperation with Turkey - the
transit country from which most of the seaborne aliens enter Greece
- and he expressed hope that the EU and Turkey would conclude an
alien readmission agreement that would take the place of the
ineffectively implemented 2001 Greece-Turkey readmission protocol.




3. (C) Lieutenant Colonel Alexandros Soukoulis, the Greek Police
focal point for FRONTEX issues, gave us an informal review of
FRONTEX activities. They include several sea and land border
operations, including Operation Poseidon, the biggest FRONTEX
operation anywhere in Europe. Poseidon is renewed annually each
December and is constantly evolving and expanding, with over ten
countries currently providing personnel and other assets. Other
current FRONTEX operations focus on airports and land crossing
points. Greece is incorporating the FRONTEX-established common
core curriculum into its officer training.




4. (C) Soukoulis said the Greek border is a top priority for
FRONTEX. EU member states are increasingly aware of the situation
in Greece and its impact on them, and have been contributing more
and more resources. Soukoulis estimated that, at present, there
were about 40 guest officers from other EU countries in Greece
under FRONTEX. Each officer stayed for approximately one month
and, with the planes and boats their countries provided, engaged in
surveillance, interception, and other activities. The officers
travel with at least one Greek officer to ensure that their
activities are covered by Greek law. Asked about Turkey, Soukoulis
said in his view, in the mindset there, the military - rather than
law enforcement - have the main responsibility for border security.
It is the contrary in Greece.

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Aegean Squabbles

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5. (C) Over the course of the second half of 2009, and
increasingly in the past two months, Turkish radar operators have
contacted FRONTEX aircraft passing over Agathonisi and Farmakonisi
(which lie on the patrol route between the islands of Samos and
Kos, an area that is a prime entry point for illegals),and warned
them they were in "Turkish" airspace, threatening them with fighter
intercept should they not deviate course. During his October visit
to Athens, FRONTEX Deputy Fernandez categorically stated to the
press that EU aircraft had never entered Turkish airspace, a point
repeated by EU Commission VP for Justice, Freedom, and Security
Jacques Barrot, while noting that FRONTEX aircraft had never been
"threatened" by Turkey.



Comment

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6. (C) Greece sees the huge and growing influx of people coming
through the Aegean as one of its most important challenges, and it
has sought for some time to get EU institutions to treat this as a
shared European problem. Though the capacity of FRONTEX remains
limited, for the Greeks it is a step in the right direction. These
efforts are complicated, however, by the huge size of the
challenge, the difficulties in intra-EU coordination, and
Greek-Turkish differences over managing a major human smuggling
route that passes through both countries. While the recent
outreach efforts by Greece to Turkey will certainly include a
discussion on this issue, the size of the flow is great and the
impact of FRONTEX still too early to determine.
Speckhard