Deal inked for Warsaw to permanently host EU's Frontex agency
Poland’s Interior Ministry has initialed a "draft agreement" with the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) under which the agency would be permanently based in Warsaw, the ministry reported on Monday.
"We are proud that the European Union’s largest agency will have a permanent headquarters in Poland," deputy Interior Minister Jakub Skiba said, as quoted in a statement on Monday. "We believe that Frontex with its new mandate will feel good in our country."
Frontex spokeswoman Ewa Moncure told PAP that negotiations on the matter have been completed and that there is every indication that Poland will continue as the agency’s host.
The draft agreement must still be approved by the agency’s management board, and it must then be put to a vote in Polish parliament, Moncure said.
The Polish Interior Ministry said the agreement "testifies to the fact that the protection of the external borders of the European Union is an extremely important element of Polish government policy."
"The Polish government will make every effort to provide Frontex with the best possible conditions," the ministry added.
Founded in 2004 and recently provided with a stronger mandate, Frontex is an EU agency that manages cooperation between national border guards to secure the bloc's external borders.
(PAP)
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