(see related)
European Migration and Home
Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos on Wednesday said it
was no good passing the buck to the European Union after the
latest migrant disaster in the southern Mediterranean.
The death of 10 refugees has reignited debate about the
effectiveness of the Triton programme, which is coordinated by
EU agency Frontex and replaced Italy's better-funded Mare
Nostrum search-and-rescue operation last year.
"Enough already of the politics of passing the buck,"
Avramopoulos said.
"Let's have a clear, realistic attitude about what the EU
can do and what it cannot do.
"Frontex is not the EU's border guard. If we want a system
of border guards, we have to create it.
"If we want Frontex to do more, we have to give it more
resources".
EC Vice-President Frans Timmermans echoed those
sentiments, saying the EU member states must be ready to take
responsibility for sharing the burden of the migrant crisis.
"Migration is a problem that concerns all the member
states," Timmermans said. "It's no longer Mare Nostrum (Our
Sea), but Europa Nostra (Our Europe)".
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