EUAA Executive Director’s high-level visits to Romania, Greece, Italy & Spain

In May, Ms. Nina Gregori, Executive Director of the EUAA, conducted a multi-State high-level visit to the Agency’s operations in Romania, Greece, Italy, and Spain. 

In Romania, Ms. Gregori met with the Secretary of State Mr. Raed Arafat. Their meeting came just one month after it was agreed to deploy 130 EUAA personnel and interpreters to support the country with registering arriving Ukrainians. Following the meeting, she led visits to the Galati Reception Centre where temporary protection registration were taking place and the Isaccea border crossing, where the EUAA, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) as well as national authorities are coordinating the entry of refugees into Romania. 

Ms. Gregori then travelled to Greece. The visit began with a keynote address to the 1st Conference of the EUAA-Greece National School of the Judiciary in Thessaloniki, where she underlined the importance of judicial convergence in applying EU asylum legislation. This was followed by a visit to the Katehaki registration centre in Athens, where the Greek authorities had registered 9,000 people for temporary protection at the time; and she then held several high-level meetings with her Greek ministerial counterparts.

In Italy, the Executive Director signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Superior School of Magistrates, to enhance the support the EUAA can provide to the Italian judiciary. Ms. Gregori then led a series of meetings with the Italian Ministry of Interior, visited the Department of Public Security as well as the Immigration Office in Rome, the latter being responsible for registering asylum applications and temporary protection requests.

Ms. Gregori completed her 4-country visit in Spain, where she visited the Alcobendas reception centre, where we work with the Spanish authorities to help integrate international protection applicants, as well as the new Pozuelos CREADE centre, where authorities collaborate to register Ukrainian refugees and ensure they can benefit from their social rights. The Executive Director then led a series of meetings with officials at the Ministry of Social Security and Migration to discuss improvements in the Spanish reception system; and closed the visit with a bilateral with the Minister of Interior. 

With this multi-State visit, the Executive Director reaffirmed the Agency – and Europe’s – commitment to supporting Member States and providing assistance to those in need. The excellent results she witnessed were the fruit of significant efforts by national authorities and testament to what can be achieved through a close partnership with the European Union Agency for Asylum.