Q: Is France in favor of sending personnel from the Frontex European Border and Coast Guard Agency to Poland, Lithuania and Latvia? What is the procedure for making that request? If France were to send police officers to the border, would they be identified as Frontex personnel?
A: As we said yesterday, France expresses its solidarity with Poland, as well as Lithuania and Latvia, in the face of the Belarusian regime's unacceptable exploitation of migratory flows. We provided material support and personnel to Lithuania in September and to date, nearly 200 personnel from the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex, are deployed in Lithuania and Latvia. At this stage, Poland has not requested these European resources, which remain available.
The Belarusian regime is fueling trafficking in migrants with the aim of destabilizing the EU. That is why France is seeking a way to jointly coordinate the protection of our external borders and stands ready to examine ways to strengthen measures against the Belarusian regime and the individuals and entities involved in this human trafficking. The issue will be raised at the next Foreign Affairs Council on November 15.