Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2) arrived in the Aegean Sea in February 2016. It is conducting reconnaissance, monitoring and surveillance in the territorial waters of Greece and Turkey, as well as in international waters.
NATO ships are making a difference in the international efforts to deal with the greatest refugee and migrant crisis facing Europe since the end of the Second World War, providing real-time information to the coast guards of Greece and Turkey, as well as Frontex. This is helping them take effective action.
B-Roll includes interviews with personnel from Turkish ship TCG Gökova and interview with SNMG2 Commander, onboard German ship FGS Bonn (BROLL 1), as well as covering shots from the bridge and operations room of TCG Gökova and shots from a Turkish military patrol helicopter (BROLL 2).
BROLL 1 (soundbites)
ENGLISH SOUNDBITE – REAR ADMIRAL JÖRG KLEIN, Commander of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2)
“Well, the mission is going very well for the moment. We are basically collecting information on the ships and on the boats, which are sailing around within the territorial waters of Greece and Turkey. And our task is to provide the information we are collecting to both the navies, which is the Greek Navy and the Turkish Navy. And we are exchanging the picture as well via voice communication with the Turkish and the Greek coast guard as well as with Frontex.”
ENGLISH SOUNDBITE – LIEUTENANT COMMANDER SERDAR ÖZTIFTIK, Operations Officer, TCG Gökova
“With the sophisticated radars and satellite communication and the other equipment, modern equipment, we can detect the migrant boats from a considerably good distance.”
“After detecting any migrant boat, we inform the Turkish and Greek coast guards and at the same time, SNMG2 headquarters. And then we accompany the migrant boat from a safe distance, so not to harm it and then the coast guards come, intercept, and pick up all of the migrants, then we continue our patrol.”
ENGLISH SOUNDBITE - COMMANDER RESUL ÖZTÜRK, Commanding Officer, TCG Gökova
“We have learnt that the immigrant trafficking is now declining very well with the coordination of the Turkish naval forces and Turkish aircraft and the other units.”
“When I see some people who is very desperate and who’s in pain, it pains me very much and also I am very proud of the commander, as the commander of the ship, to support the people and to decline, to reduce the number of loss of life at sea.”
ENGLISH SOUNDBITE - NATASHA BERTAUD, European Commission Spokesperson for Migration
“NATO can help in a lot of ways; firstly in terms of resources, in terms of bringing ships to the Aegean and also just having a presence there is in itself a disincentive for smugglers.”
“And the second is really in intelligence-gathering on migration routes and on smuggler networks that are operating in the area and in Turkey, and this is where NATO can really bring in an added value. They’re working very closely with Frontex and they’ve agreed operational agreements with the European border agency, which is very useful because there has to be real-time information exchange between the two operations, because you have a Frontex operation, Poseidon, which is already in place operating in Greek waters. And the big advantage about the NATO operation is that it can operate in Turkish waters, which is something that Frontex can’t do.”
ENGLISH SOUNDBITE – IZABELLA COOPER, Spokesperson, Frontex
“NATO has access to very valuable information about the smugglers. They are in touch with Turkish authorities that they can share this information with. They can also share this information with Frontex."
ENGLISH SOUNDBITE – REAR ADMIRAL JÖRG KLEIN, Commander of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2)
“The number of migrant boats has decreased significantly, but nonetheless, the incidents we have basically are reacted very quickly upon. That does mean we have a migrant boat, we report it to the authorities and then they’re taking action, proper action, to stop the migrant boat. So from that point of view, I’m very much content with the level of coordination and cooperation we have established with as well the Hellenic Navy, the Turkish Navy, the Hellenic Coast Guard, the Turkish Coast Guard and with Frontex as well. It’s working out fine here at sea.”
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