EU’s Schengen recommendations and best practices guidelines for external borders control says the border guard force should be specially trained professionals. A Norwegian Official Report presented this week strongly recommend continuing with military conscripts as guards on the border to Russia.
The report from the Government Commission was presented to the Norwegian Ministry Justice and the Police earlier this week. The Commission’s mandate was to elaborate the juridical aspects of Norway’s civilian border surveillance.
In 2005-2006 EU made a Schengen evaluation of Norway’s external borders control. The evaluation concluded that Norway’s use of military personnel to control its border to Russia is not in accordance with Schengen’s recommended standards.
Since 1959, the garrison in Sør-Varanger (GSV) has assisted the police with the border guards and surveillance. The personnel along Norway’s 196 kilometer long border to Russia are mainly conscripts. But still, it’s the police who have the juridical responsibility and initiate criminal prosecution of all violation of the border law. The border passing post, with passport control is also a police matter.
The Governmental Commission’s report, named New border law, elaborate the difference between Norway’s high north border to Russia compared with other external Schengen borders in Europe. The report highlights the fact that very few illegal immigrants have ever crossed the border and assume that illegal immigration into Norway from Russia is an unlikely scenario also in the future.
The report also argues why it is beneficial to continue to have military conscripts to guard the Norwegian-Russian border. Conscripts are highly motivated, they are replaced with new ones after a year and their salaries are low compared with a professional police force.
However, the Schengen evaluation of Norway’s border control regime claims that the conscripts guarding the border to Russia are not to be regarded as professional border guards, since they are just doing their military service and not a real profession. Norway was recommended to improve the human and material for guarding the border.
The Schengen recommendations states that persons performing border guard duties should be specially trained professionals. Persons with less experience can be used only for auxiliary duties assisting professionals temporarily.
