Brussels, Feb. 4, 2021 (Lusa) - Eduardo Cabrita, Portugal's minister for internal administration, said on Tuesday that Portugal would organise a meeting with the board of directors and the executive director of Frontex to ensure that "European law" and "established rules" were respected.

"We will take the initiative to meet with Frontex's management board and its executive director before the March Council to analyse what is needed to ensure that Frontex meets its objectives," Cabrita said during a hearing in the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, where he presented the priorities of the Portuguese presidency in his area.

Before the meeting with the management of the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders (Frontex), the minister also said that the Portuguese presidency would present an "assessment of the situation" of the agency.  

Qualifying the new mandate of the agency responsible for the European Union's external borders as "very important", the minister also said that this mandate gave it greater responsibility.

"That is why it is so essential that Frontex acts under the rule of law, with respect for fundamental rights, and that it completes its obligation to have a scrutiny mechanism with a human rights officer and (...) that it has fully completed its organisational structure," he said.

Asked by the leader of the PSD delegation, Paulo Rangel, on whether the Portuguese presidency is "in a position to guarantee" that "no citizen of a third country" goes through the same as the Ukrainian citizen Ihor Homeniuk in March 2020 at Lisbon airport, Cabrita replied that Portugal is "a country recognised as an example in the participation of the humanitarian dimension, in relocation, resettlement, reception of migrants from the Mediterranean" and in the way it "includes foreign citizens in society".

"What happened in March at Lisbon airport was a tragic incident, the truth was uncovered by the government's initiative, which immediately set up an investigation, immediately suspended the rights of those responsible for border police at Lisbon airport, and the trial of this crime is now, in less than a year, underway," he said.

He reiterated: "Our commitment is that Frontex must respect European law, it must respect the rules that are established in its organisation".

The review of Frontex's mandate, approved in 2019, provided for the gradual creation of a force of 10,000 border guards by 2027 - with the recruitment of 5,000 officials this year - and the possibility of using firearms depending on the authorisation of the host country.

In the same context, Frontex was committed to employing 40 officials to ensure that the agency respected fundamental EU rights.

With the December 2020 deadline looming, Frontex announced that it had postponed the recruitment process because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Frontex is currently accused of having prevented migrants from entering Europe on several occasions between March and August 2020.

At issue is a report published on 23 October 2020 by several European media outlets - including Der Spiegel and Bellingcat - which reported that Frontex personnel had been complicit in Greek navy operations that prevented boats from passing through Greece, forcing them to return to Turkey.

On 1 December, the director of Frontex, Fabrice Leggeri, in a hearing before the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs rejected the accusations, stating that there was "no evidence" of Frontex's involvement.

TEYA/ADB // ADB.

Lusa