The Mossos meet with the European border agency despite not having powers in immigration

The request caused surprise. The Mossos de Esquadra requested a visit to the headquarters of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) unilaterally and outside the official channel through which the organization communicates and coordinates with the Member States. The objective of the meeting was to gather detailed information on the operation of the agency to which the EU has delegated border control and the fight against irregular immigration. Thus, on June 11, the head of the Mossos, Commissioner Eduard Sallent, and Mayor Emili Martínez, from the Police School of Catalonia, appeared in Warsaw. A liaison officer from the National Police and another from the Civil Guard took note of the meetings, although they were left out of one of them, considered to be of a “personal nature.”

The meeting caused reluctance among state security forces before it was held, as already published The world. But also after. The Mossos do not have powers in immigration, but despite this they were very interested in key issues such as the returns of immigrants to their countries of origin and the capabilities and limitations of the agency to execute them, according to an internal note to which El PAÍS had access.

The meeting was accepted and made without activating the so-called National Contact Point, currently in the General Directorate of International Relations of the Ministry of the Interior, from where all communications between Spain and Frontex are channelled. “The fact that Frontex agreed to this meeting, requested unilaterally without complying with the regulation of communication through the National Contact Point, caused surprise,” the note explains. The two liaison officers, according to the document, expressed their surprise to the Frontex official who dealt with the meeting before the meeting began and, although he took note, “he did not make express mention of it during his speech.”

The discomfort is part of a larger context. Last January, the PSOE agreed with Junts to delegate immigration powers to the Generalitat in exchange for parliamentary support. The socialists ended up minimizing the agreement, but the pact inflamed tempers and generated many legal doubts about its application, in addition to irritating the Police and the Civil Guard, the bodies responsible for Immigration and border control. Regarding the negotiation of a change in the Immigration Law to impose a distribution of migrant minors throughout the territory, Junts has once again demanded the negotiation of the transfer of these powers. For all these reasons, this meeting is not considered harmless among the security forces. “This visit clearly indicates that the Mossos want to exploit their potential as border police, when border guarding is an exclusive responsibility of the State,” explains one of the sources familiar with the appointment.

The Catalan police have played down the scope of the meeting. They frame it as a “training” visit, organised by the Catalan police school, as part of the promotion course of Chief Commissioner Eduard Sallent to Major, Rebeca Carranco reports. “In no case does it intend to address jurisdictional issues,” maintains a spokesperson. In one of the meetings, the Mossos said that they have already visited Europol and that they have pending visits to the European Commission in Brussels and to the Metropolitan Police in London.

During their trip to Warsaw, the Mossos did indeed show interest in Frontex’s training activities. According to sources familiar with the meeting, Commissioner Sallent and his companion wanted to know if the agency had a physical police academy and were interested in the agency’s training activities. But the Mossos also inquired about current trends in migration flows, training and intelligence methodologies, as well as the status of liaison officers from member countries in the agency, according to the sources consulted. The Interior Ministry has also framed the meeting as “a training visit” by Commissioner Sallent “in the framework of his promotion to Major of the Mossos”, within the training programmed by the Public Security Institute of Catalonia.

A Frontex spokesperson told EL PAÍS that the meeting served as a general presentation of the agency’s ongoing operations and missions, “something that is usual in all these visits.” He acknowledged that although the meeting was not requested through official channels, the Spanish authorities were informed “in advance.” Asked whether other autonomous police forces without immigration powers throughout the EU have made visits to the agency’s headquarters, the spokesperson said there are precedents. “Our commitment to improving border security and cooperation often involves establishing contact with various interested parties.” […]. “We believe in cooperation with all relevant agencies,” he added. Asked specifically why other regional police forces had carried out such visits, Frontex did not respond.

The hearing also included a private meeting of the Mossos with a former colleague who is now an intelligence analyst at Frontex, a meeting that allowed them to meet privately with the analyst’s direct boss, the head of the Regional Analysis Sector, a department that, among other things, is responsible for the “analysis of operational incidents” and cross-border crimes, according to the note. The “personal nature” of the meeting left out the liaison officers of the Police and the Civil Guard.

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