Estonian president: Guarding EU external border is cornerstone of migration policy

TALLINN - Guarding the external borders of the European Union is the cornerstone of migration policy and Frontex plays a key role in that, Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid said on Friday when visiting the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) in Greece.

"Estonia values highly the work of Frontex in boosting the security of the EU's external border and we have sent our people and equipment to help with that," Kaljulaid said.

Considering the size of its population, Estonia is the biggest contributor to Frontex with officials of the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) as well as border guarding equipment, but the country is always open to consider doing more, spokespeople for the president said. "We can share Estonia's experience with cross-utilization of different databases and information systems," Kaljulaid said.

In the past three years, PPA officials have taken part in about 80 joint operations, the largest of which have been and are in Greece, Italy and Bulgaria.