National authorities

The Federal Police, being part of the internal security system in the Federal Republic of Germany, carry out a wide variety of law enforcement tasks, in particular in the fields of border protection, railway policing and aviation security, as assigned by the German Constitution and federal law. With a good 41 000 employees of whom more than 33 000 are fully trained police officers, the Bundespolizei is a police force that is available country-wide with a high operational value and that makes an important contribution to maintaining domestic security in the Federal Republic of Germany, Europe and in the world.

The Border Police Units were established in 1999 as a branch of the Hellenic Police. Presently 4 500 border guards serve at 58 Border Police Units across the Hellenic territory. Border guards have at their disposal a variety of vehicles and technical equipment to fulfil their mission, which is to prevent and combat illegal migration as well as cross border crime which occurs at the external borders of Greece.

The Hellenic Coast Guard was established in 1919. It operates a total of 269 patrol boats and vessels and its own dedicated airfleet, composed of 6 fixed wing assets and 6 helicopters. Border Police Units and the Hellenic Coast Guard cooperate closely with the law enforcement agencies from other EU Member States in the implementation of EU policies.