Slovenia Commits a Helicopter to EU Border Agency

Interior Minister Dragutin Mate said on Thursday that Slovenia would place a helicopter at the disposal of Frontex - the EU external border control agency.

The helicopter would not be used all the time, but merely in times of need and called for a fair distribution of the burden of providing technical equipment to the EU border watchdog.
The countries in the interior of the EU should not shoulder the same burden as those at its outlying borders, Minister Mate said after a session of the EU interior ministers in Brussels.
The response of other countries to last month's call by Franco Frattini, EU justice commissioner, netted the agency 8 airplanes, 13 helicopters and 38 boats.
As this is but half of the agency's needs, Frontex will draft a complete list of the needed equipment.
Frattini also called on all member states to cooperate and pointed to the danger of a new immigration wave from Africa that could hit Europe in the spring.

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