FRONTEX executive director Leggeri awarded by Migration Min Mitarachi

According to the migration ministry, the Executive Director of the European Border and Coast Guard Organisation (FRONTEX), Fabrice Leggeri, was awarded by Migration and Asylum Minister Notis Mitarachi "for the important contribution of the organisation in dealing with the migration crisis, as well as its effects on local communities".

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The award ceremony took place at the embassy residence in Vilnius.

Mitarachi referred to the effectiveness of FRONTEX "under the leadership of Leggeri, as the operational activities and the overall support of the organisation in Greece, have allowed Greece to maintain the lowest level of migration flows of the last decade."

On his part, Leggeri thanked the Greek minister for this gesture, "which is a recognition of the work done by FRONTEX and opens new opportunities for further cooperation to protect the EU's external borders."

Mitarachi and Leggeri were taking part in the European Conference on Border Protection, which is concluding in Vilnius on Friday. Greece is a co-organising country, along with Austria, Lithuania and Poland.

The purpose of the Conference, according to the Greek ministry, is to start the necessary discussion between the EU Member States, the associated Schengen area states and the European institutions on the major issue of protecting the EU's external spaces against migratory flows and the need for prevention of illegal entry, in the context of the negotiation of the new Schengen Borders Code and the new Migration and Asylum Pact, which is in progress.

The common position of the participating states is that migration pressure affects the EU as a whole, as primary flows lead to significant secondary flows.