Frontex patrols 'to resume'

Frontex, the EU border agency, is planning to restart its anti-illegal migration patrols in the Mediterranean in the coming weeks.

Sources close to the agency said no dates have been set yet, adding that there may be some budgeting problems that first need to be resolved.

The patrol mission, dubbed Nautilus II, ended last week after a month of operations with the participation of five EU member states.

In response to separate appeals launched by the Maltese government and Joseph Daul, the leader of the EPP-ED group in the European Parliament, for the immediate resumption of the operation, Frontex said yesterday that although it planned to continue the mission this summer, this was not a straightforward task.

Contacted in Warsaw, an agency's spokesman admitted that there might be some financial problems to solve before the mission can go ahead as planned.

"Launching a new phase of the operation does not only depend on the willingness of Frontex. We need to have support from member states and financial means in place. In this case it is unrealistic to have a more intensive and continuous operation - bearing in mind budgetary limitations and readiness of member states to cooperate."

The issue of lack of funds to support the continuation of Nautilus II comes as a surprise following comments made by European Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini just a month ago.

While visiting the Nautilus II operation in Malta, Mr Frattini had said there existed the necessary funds for Frontex missions in the Mediterranean to continue until the end of summer.

Pressed to state whether the anti-immigration patrol mission off the coast of Malta will continue this summer, the Frontex spokesman confirmed the intention but did not specify any dates.

"We will have the next phase of Nautilus this summer - that's decided, but I cannot reveal any details."

Frontex is still analysing the data collected during the first phase of this year's Mediterranean mission although first results indicate it had a positive effect on cutting the number of illegal immigrants coming to Malta.

According to the agency's spokesman, Frontex is satisfied with the course of the operation and the support it received from the five participating countries.

"We have observed a sort of displacement effect and we need to adapt our tactics to the new modus operandi used by traffickers. However, our analysis is still to be concluded," he emphasised.

Apart from Malta, which made the biggest contribution by far, Germany, Spain, Greece and Italy also participated in the mission.