Brussels, 11/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 11 February, NATO decided to deploy war ships to the Aegean Sea to monitor refugee flows at the Greco-Turkish border in cooperation with the Frontex agency.
The decision was taken by Allied defence ministers in Brussels after an unexpected initiative by Germany and Turkey first announced during a visit by German chancellor Angela Merkel to Ankara on Monday 8 February. When Greece joined the initiative and the other Allies gave their support, NATO decided to remove from normal duty and send one of its naval groups currently under German sub-command immediately to the Aegean Sea. The group was already in the eastern Mediterranean and will soon arrive in the Aegean. It currently comprises three ships, one from Canada, one from Germany and one from Turkey. It is expected to be joined by reinforcements from Denmark.
“The goal is to participate in the international efforts to stem illegal trafficking and illegal migration in the Aegean. It will be tasked to conduct reconnaissance, monitoring and surveillance of the illegal crossings in the Aegean Sea in cooperation with relevant authorities. And to establish a direct link with the European Union's border management agency, Frontex. As part of the agreement, Greek and Turkish armed forces will not operate in each other's territorial waters or air space,” explained NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday. He said the mission would provide information to Frontex and national authorities, particularly Greek and Turkish coastguards but would not stop or force back refugee boats. Instead, he said, it will provide critical information and surveillance to help fight criminal networks and the illegal trafficking of human beings and would do so by working closely with the EU.
The European Commission welcomed the decision, with spokesperson Margaritis Schinas saying that the ten kilometres that separate the Turkish coast from the Greek islands must not be or become a paradise for traffickers. He said it was now for Frontex, which is deploying operation Poseidon in the Aegean Sea, and NATO to establish the practical details of how they were going to work together. (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)