The EU Border and Coast Guard Agency is considering suspending activities in Greece following a controversy over the capsizing of an overcrowded fishing boat, Le Monde reported.
During a June 20-21 management board meeting of the agency, known as Frontex, the agency’s fundamental rights officer, Jonas Grimheden, recommended temporarily suspending the agencies’ activities in Greece, according to the French newspaper’s report.
The Frontex reaction comes in the wake of a migrant boat disaster off the coast of Greece that is one of the biggest tragedies in the Mediterranean Sea in years. Tensions have been mounting between the EU agency and Athens over the role that each party played in dealing with the tragedy.
Critics say that the Greek authorities should have acted faster to keep the vessel from capsizing. There are testimonies from survivors that the coast guard tied up to the vessel and attempted to pull it, causing the boat to sway, which the Greek authorities strongly deny.
After the wreck, Frontex said it had initiated a “serious incident report,” requiring the recording of potential human rights violations.