How did you celebrate European Day for Border Guards?
You could be forgiven for not noticing, but last Thursday (24 May) was European Day for Border Guards.
The celebrations were particularly frenetic in
Warsaw, home of the European Union's border-management agency, Frontex.
Cecilia Malmström, the European commissioner for home affairs, went
along to attend festivities, which took the form of a conference with
the declared aim of bringing together “Europe's border-guard community”
to provide “an opportunity to share experiences and best practice”.
Those
people who think that the life of a border guard is a bit dull would
have had their prejudices confirmed or challenged by the conference
programme, which included ten feature and documentary films. Attendees
had the choice of 60 stands with exhibitors ranging from national police
or border-guard departments to private companies and international
organisations.
Attendees were also asked to submit photographs for a
contest. The first award went to Jaroslaw Wtorkiewicz for a rear view
of two female border guards, probably inspecting travel documents, but
one cannot be sure. Jürgen Binder's entry showed two plainclothes
officials with oversized sunglasses carrying two laughing black boys on
their shoulders. Seppo Partanen was ranked third for a picture
apparently showing migrants wading through a shallow river. (“Don't
arrest them just now, I have to take a picture first.”)
The draft budget in Frontex's work programme for 2012 put aside €400,000 for the event. Bordering on extravagant?
