Fabrice Leggeri

Teams of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, or Frontex, are joining Albania's police to patrol its land and sea borders for migrants and crime.

European Union Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos and Frontex head Fabrice Leggeri were in Tirana on Tuesday to launch "the first ever joint operation on the territory of a neighboring non-EU country."

The number of illegal migrants entering the European Union fell sharply for the third year in a row in 2018 but arrivals remain high and stronger border controls are needed, the head of the EU's border control agency Frontex said Wednesday.

As Greece continues to struggle with overcrowded migrant reception centers on the Aegean islands and greater pressure at the land border with Turkey, Fabrice Leggeri, the executive director of the European Union's border agency Frontex, has pledged more support if necessary.

The percentage of migrants bound for Greece from Turkey has increased by 17 percent in the past 4-5 weeks, Fabrice Leggeri, Director of Europe's border protection agency Frontex told a German daily on May 1.

The influx of refugees from Turkey to Greece has increased significantly, the executive director of Frontex, the European Union's border monitoring agency has told Germany's Bild.

In comments to Bild that were published on Wednesday, Fabrice Leggeri said arrivals of migrants from Turkey to Greece's Aegean islands have increased by 17 percent in the past four to five weeks alone.

Migrant crossings into Greece are down 80 percent from last year, but "pressure remains at a high level," the head of European Union border agency Frontex warned on Tuesday.

The number of migrants trying to reach Europe through the Mediterranean will remain high this year, with more expected to arrive through Spain, the head of European Union border agency Frontex warned Tuesday.

Fabrice Leggeri told reporters that "the irregular migration pressure on the southern borders in the Mediterranean will remain at a very high level."

The Serbian government will soon discuss the Russian-Serbian Humanitarian Center (RSHC) and the status of its staff.

"It's really no longer either normal, nor do I understand why they (the US) are opposed to giving immunity to Russian humanitarian workers in the Nis Center," First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic has told Vecernje Novosti.

Two days after 16 migrants drowned off the coast of Lesvos when their smuggling boat sank, the executive director of the European Union's border monitoring agency Frontex, Fabrice Leggeri, was on the island for talks with local authority officials.

Frontex chief Fabrice Leggeri is meeting with officials of the EU's border agency operating on the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos as well as representatives of the Greek police, according to reports Wednesday.

Leggeri's visit comes as the search continues Wednesday for survivors of Monday's shipwreck off the island which killed at least 16 migrants.