The European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX) is pressing to have its guards in Greece armed by the European summer, EU Observer reported, greekcitytimes.com reports.
FRONTEX, which is based in Warsaw, managed to reach a deal with Poland to carry weapons on site but is struggling to get approval elsewhere.
The executive director of the border agency, Fabrice Leggeri, told Members of the European Parliament on Tuesday that it had reached a “bridging agreement” with Greece so that its guards can also carry guns.
“We are a fully-fledged EU agency, no doubt about that, but we are also more a fully-fledged European law enforcement force,” he added.
“We are in the process of vetting the category one staff so that we can deploy them with the use of force,” he said.
Frontex deploys additional 100 border guards at Greece’s land border
New recruits to FRONTEX belong to a so-called ‘category one’ staffing of EU officials and are part of a future 10,000 standing corps.
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