Wow this is just unacceptable.<p>> The Problem - Migrants
(slide two in the gallery on the landing page)<p>You know that this is an important topic because "ZDF (former Neo) Magazin Royal" is behind that. They are an kind of investigative satire format, unfortunately topics like these are not too funny... But very good work from their side.<p>Frontex was always suspected and accused for not following any EU moral and legal processes, this is just a proof and absolutely unacceptable.
<i>Why is it problematic for Frontex to meet with weapons companies?</i><p>“A new regulation passed by the European Parliament in the spring of 2019 stipulates that Frontex is to have a “standing corps” of 10,000 by 2027, and it is allowed to equip border agents with handguns.<p>The problem is that no legal regulations permit members of an EU agency to carry firearms.”<p><i>Why are lobbyists so interested in Frontex?</i><p>“...In addition: Since 2019, Frontex has been permitted to own and acquire airplanes, drones and firearms.”<p>-<p>So the concern is that Frontex is being “too forward” in acquiring weapons it’s allowed to own, but not carry for some reason, while also being dishonest/misleading about meeting with vendors, correct?<p>Biometric usage, and meeting with other border agencies instead of human rights groups aside.
Why is lobbyism not a solved problem? Why is it not yet more scrutinized than it should be? Peace and freedom in all western countries is at stake because there is no accountability.<p>Is money that powerful? What else can we do than to vote carefully?
For a bit of a background for non-German folks and particularly Australians... that's a "government-run", "federal" broadcaster publishing this. Sounds like shooting your own foot? No.<p>The Basic Law of Germany, approved by the Western allies in 1949, included telecommunications as a responsibility of the federal government. And so the federal government thought to create a television service to compete with those of the states. The states sued and won in the constitutional court - saying that telecommunications only referred to infrastructure and delivery, definitely not the content (think fascism and communism as to why). The resulting corpse was used by the states as a foundation for a new broadcaster formed through a state treaty.<p>Germany is part of the EU and thus Frontex. The individual states of Germany organised a sister organisation, ZDF, to the Federal Republic of Germany itself and it isn't.<p>One reason I mention all this is because we've got a broken media environment unlike Germany here in Australia with a vast amount of media concentration. And the constitutionality of the ABC is based on the constitution saying that telephones and the postal service fall under the responsibility of the federal government. The ABC isn't Australia Post or Telstra. Yet somehow we all just went along with the premise. So this is what happened here in a similar situation: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Files_(Australia)" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_Files_(Australia)</a> - a police raid, the federal government applying pressure and a chilling effect for all future publications. The top three options in Australia for a 'stop the boats' leak like this would be 1. a broadcaster under a massive _chilling_ _effect_ by the 'stop the boats' government, 2. Rupert Murdoch or 3. Nine, with Costello in charge, who was literally the deputy 'stop the boats' guy. Horrifying.<p>So when I see comments like<p>> It's really worrying that there's some concentrated effort to take Frontex down.<p>No, this leak comes from the constituent states of Germany being concerned by a "superior" power doing things that they haven't been authorised to do. Whether it's the Federal Republic of Germany deciding to start a public broadcaster despite the states (and Allied powers) not having agreed to that being its responsibility or whether it's the European Union starting a military (which it's not allowed to do) it's the same thing. It might be a concentrated effort, whatever - it doesn't matter - because it's a constitutional necessity. This leak here is an extremely important part of the process that all "inferior" constituent parts of something should engage in to keep the greater parts in check.<p>Something the constituent states of Australia should take more seriously.