EU Commissioner praises Finland's eastern border control and surveillance

Franco Frattini

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According to European Commission Vice-President and EU Commissioner Franco Frattini, Finland's eastern border control has been managed well. Frattini spoke at the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers of Justice in Helsinki on Thursday, when the Ministers of Justice of about 30 countries of the Council of Europe and representatives of a number of other member states convened in Helsinki for a two-day conference.
      "It is self-evident that there is certain pressure on Finland, but as far as we know there have been very few illegal frontier crossings at the eastern border of Finland", said the Commissioner who is responsible for Justice and Home Affairs in the European Union.
      Frattini also mentioned that the Commission is willing to give Finland technical, financial, and political back-up to facilitate its surveillance of the eastern border, which is also the external border of the EU.
     
On Thursday, the Commissioner also met with Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre), Minister of the Interior Kari Rajamäki (SDP), and Minister of Justice Johannes Koskinen (SDP). They all agreed that cooperation between the EU countries is required to ensure the security of the citizens of each country and at the same time, to maintain the fight against international crime.
      Frattini stressed, however, that the fight against terrorism must be carried out respecting human rights and democracy.
     
The Commissioner and the Finnish ministers also discussed the denial of entry into Finland to the group of Georgian women in mid-March.
      However, Frattini was not willing to evaluate the actions taken by Finnish authorities in connection with the case, which has caused a minor political storm and has led to calls for an inquiry. The women were believed to have been victims of human trafficking.
     
Commissioner Frattini is convinced that the EU and the European Council together should fight against the death penalty. He even suggested that a European Day against the death penalty should be organised.
      Furthermore, the Commissioner pointed out that the fight against the use of capital punishment has already been successful in Africa.
      "When meeting some representatives of the EU, the President of Senegal promised to abolish the death penalty, and he actually did it. A total number of 18 African countries have abolished the death penalty so far, and 20 countries have stopped implementing capital sentences."


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Parliamentary Ombudsman to conduct inquiry into treatment of Georgian women (5.4.2005)
  Finnish frontier guards deny all accusations of racism (4.4.2005)
  Hundreds of human trafficking victims pass through Finland each year (1.4.2005)
  Finnish Interior Minister praises Estonian border security (29.10.2004)

Links:
  Speech by Vice-President Franco Frattini at the Conference of European Ministers of Justice, 7 April 2005

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