Soldiers deployed to major EU airport after bloc’s border blunder | World | News
After digital border enforcement of the European Entry Exit System (EES) was suspended last month due to security failures, soldiers trained as border guards were sent to Lisbon airport to reduce waiting times. On Tuesday, the Portuguese government approved the deployment of 24 members of the National Republican Guard in the arrivals area of Humberto Delgado Airport. It is not yet known how long GNR soldiers will remain on duty.
The airport serves more than 35 million passengers annually, making it Portugal’s busiest airport, a major hub in Europe, and the 12th largest airport in Europe by volume. It was already being supported by 80 Public Security Police (PSP) officers during the Christmas and New Year period, when long queues of travelers attempted to enter the popular holiday destination.
According to GNR spokesman Carlos Catanário, quoted by Lusa, the 24 soldiers, consisting of teams of 10 people and a supervisor, will work in “flexible shifts” and will be in the arrivals area to check documents, Euronews reported.
The soldiers reportedly received certified training in border control and received two days of administrative training from PSP, the National Civil Aviation Authority and airport operator ANA.
This follows the government’s decision to suspend the new EES for non-EU citizens for three months to avoid longer waits at the airport.
The European Commission carried out an unannounced assessment at Lisbon Airport between 15 and 17 December and concluded that there were “serious deficiencies” in border security control. Their warnings led the government to take immediate action, including the suspension of the EES.
According to Diário de Notícias newspaper, the European Commission team found that the quality of first- and second-line border controls was poor. They also warned of long queues and excessive waiting times of up to seven hours.
In addition, the experts who made the evaluation stated that border controls are often simplified without informing the EU Administration, which leads to “the absence of exit controls at the Lisbon Airport border crossing point.”
