EC says don't pass buck on migrants to EU - update

(see related) (ANSA) - Brussels, March 4 - 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)".