Frontex findings suggest no evidence of pushbacks

There is no evidence to suggest the direct or indirect involvement of the European Union’s border agency, Frontex, or of EU member-state officials that take part in its Aegean operations in migrant pushbacks at the Greek-Turkish border, according to the preliminary findings of an internal investigation ordered by the agency’s Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri in the wake of claims made in international media reports.

This report is included in a letter sent on Wednesday by Leggeri to European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas and the commissioner for home affairs, Ylva Johansson.

In the same letter, which Kathimerini has seen, the Frontex director asks for an “in-depth analysis” of the relevant European Union regulations, especially those concerning orders issued to smuggling vessels to leave the territorial waters of a member state or to stop heading toward them.