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European Border agency holds first exercise in Croatia

Xinhua, October 11, 2016 Adjust font size:

The European Border and Coast Guard Agency on Tuesday held its first exercise in Croatia's capital Split, aiming to test operational coordination between maritime border police and national navy and coast guard, the Agency said.

The Agency was officially launched last week. Building on the foundations of former European border agency, Frontex, the new one is stronger and better equipped to tackle migration and security challenges at Europe's external borders. A rapid group of at least 1,500 border guards will be put at the disposal of the Agency.

Fabrice Leggeri, executive director of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, together with Croatian Interior Minister and Defence Minister hosted the exercise.

"The words coast guard in the name of our agency emphasizes its strong maritime dimension," said Leggeri, adding that, "This exercise is an example of cooperation between different services and is significant because Europe is seeking to improve coordination between different authorities at the maritime borders."

The exercise involved an operation of rescue irregular migrants at an external maritime border.

"Frontex saved more than 150,000 people last year and over 77,000 this year. To reflect this the mandate of the new agency now also includes search and rescue," Leggeri added. Endit