Frontex to Spend Millions on Border Surveillance and Deportations This Year
According to Statewatch, the total spending allocated for the next five years comes to under €600 million, with the majority of the amount, around €260 million, going towards IT systems, including infrastructure, software development, and administrative systems, AtoZSerwisPlus.pl reports.
Frontex also plans to spend an amount of at least €180 million on equipment to support its efforts in land border and maritime surveillance, including a drone contract that is expected to be worth up to €144 million.
It has been revealed that of the total allocated amount, €40 million will be used to purchase aircraft to carry out forced returns during the next five-year period – 2023-2027. Around €50 million will be used for transport services, such as car rentals as well as for transportation of Frontex vehicles and other large items within and outside the bloc.
In addition to the above-mentioned, at least €180 million will be used for border surveillance. This amount will cover drones, radiation detection devices, night vision, and helicopters that are capable of transmitting live visual data.
Another €6 million will be allocated for data management systems, and €800,000 will be used for research purposes to look at new border technologies.
“Frontex owns tens of thousands of pieces of technical equipment with over 1000 officers using them 24/7 daily,” the procurement plan says while revealing that the contracts range in value from €140,000 to just under €19 million.
Commenting on the matter, Tineke Strik, who is a member of the Greens/European Free Alliance groups in the EU Parliament, said for Statewatch that Frontex shows how it will guarantee that these significant amounts of money do not facilitate violent pushbacks by the EU Member States.
At the same time, Strik called on Frontex to monitor this project closely during its implementation phase as well as apply a strict conditionality regime.
Previously, AtoZSerwisPlus.pl reported that Frontex, the EU Commission, and Europol are discussing innovative technologies to strengthen the Schengen borders.
The three bodies said that it is of prime importance to strengthen the borderless area of Schengen by introducing innovative technologies. The EU’s Director for Borders, Schengen, and Visa, Matthias Oel, said that the EU is investing in IT architecture to make the bloc advanced when it comes to border protection.
