Nasir Ahmed holds the rank of Police inspector, having served in the force since 1999.
In this capacity he has seen active service on Frontexcoordinated operations since 2008. His work has included screening and debriefing of asylum seekers as well as involvement in return operations and deportations. He has been to Greece three times at land borders and once at the maritime border, as well as attending a RABIT exercise in Slovakia in 2009, and a number of Frontex workshops . His specialist skills include an ability to talk with people from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Nepal as well as with most people from Afghanistan with the help of Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi. He can also read and write Arabic, Farsi and Pashto. Prior to his current work, Mr. Ahmed served as second in command to operational leader at the National Immigration Service. He has also served three years in the Norwegian army as well as working for six months with UN forces in Lebanon and 18 months in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).
Coming from the Greek Police, Grigorios Apostolou has been with Frontex since its operational beginnings in October 2008.
Working for the Operations Unit, Land Borders Sector (LBS), he has been actively involved in a wide range of operational activities: as Project Manager (including the ongoing JO Poseidon Land in Greece and Focal Points Land) as well as by monitoring the planning and implementation of LBS activities. He was assigned as Frontex Coordinator for the Operation RABIT 2010. More recently, he was deployed as Head of Operations/Deputy Head of the Frontex Operational Office (FOO) in Piraeus, Greece.
Adriano Baptista is currently Head of the Operations Division of the European Union Satellite Centre (EUSC).
He holds a degree in Military and Aeronautics Technologies and several diplomas and certificates in Imagery Analysis, Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). He also followed the High Level Course in Common Security and Defence Policy awarded by the European Security and Defence College. Adriano Baptista joined the EUSC in 1997 after nearly 15 years of service in the Portuguese Air Force (POAF). He now has more than 20 years’ experience in imagery analysis including six years’ experience as an Intelligence Officer and Image Analyst at the POAF 401st Reconnaissance Squadron and eight years as an Image Analyst at the EUSC.
She joined the Portuguese Immigration Service in 1990 and became a qualified expert in document examination in 1992.
Since then she has gained experience in a variety of document and immigration areas. She is currently Head of the Fraud Unit and ID Department and also provides counseling for the Portuguese Government in relation to identity management and document security, leading/participating in several projects related to machine readable and electronic identity and travel documents. She is actively involved in various technical and governmental fora within the EU and the international community, namely in ICAO. She also has vast experience as project leader and qualified lecturer in training events in the area of document security and fraud detection.
He is Professor of Leadership, Management and Defence Planning at the Marshall Centre in Garmisch, Germany. He is also Director of the Program on Civil Security, which conducts the Seminar on Transatlantic Civil Security (STACS).
Dr. Clarke is recognised as a leading expert on the role of military forces in Homeland Security and Homeland Defence issues. He has developed and taught numerous courses on homeland security, crisis management, and stability operations, as well as developing scenario-based exercises and simulations. He recently led a major research project on European Approaches to Homeland Security. Most recently, he published a book, Armies in Homeland Security: American and European Perspectives.
For most of his career, Peter Cullum was a British Royal Air Force officer but has been Head of International Affairs at the Road Haulage Association for just over five years.
He started his career as a transport aircraft captain, then became a flying instructor and training unit commander and finally a diplomat, salesman and now advisor and some-time lobbyist (diplomat for private industry).
He considers himself a multi-modal man. Although he travels extensively in Europe mostly by train and air, at weekends he cycles up to 70 miles to offset his relatively large carbon footprint and relax after driving his car to the ports where he conducts business with, inter alia, ferry operators, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the new United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA) on behalf of just under 500 road haulage companies. He has lectured in Europe and India on supply chain issues and road haulage and is a member of the HMRC Joint Customs Consultative Committee (JCCC) and the Border Management Programme (BMP) Industry Stakeholder Group as well as a newly formed BSI/CEN Working Group on Supply Chain Security and resilience.
He loves dispelling myths about the transport sector.
Dr Katarzyna Cuadrat-Grzybowska works as a Legal Adviser at the European Data Protection Supervisor in Brussels.
Since January 2009 she has been dealing with various dossiers related to EU border management, internal security, information management and police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters. She is also involved in the data protection supervision of EU large-scale systems such as EURODAC, Visa Information System and Customs Information System.
Before joining the EDPS, she worked as Policy Officer at Directorate General Justice, Freedom and Security of the European Commission as well as in the Legal Service of Eurojust.
He is an officer of the German Federal Police.
During his 32 years of police experience, he has worked as chief of staff and deputy of a police battalion, head of a department in a regional headquarters of the German Border Guard and head of the Inspectorate at Hamburg Airport among many other duties, including head of the sub-department of tactics at the Federal Police Academy of Germany. He also worked as an international trainer to develop the Afghanistan Police in 2003, and has been a Frontex trainer for Mid-level Courses and RABIT training since 2007 as well as a project sub-leader for Frontex Mid-level courses between 2009 and 2011.
He is Deputy Director to the CTO, Technology & Strategy.
He holds a PhD in high-power laser physics and has widespread experience in a variety of detection techniques as well as in national and international project management in the Security and Defence areas. Krassimir is involved in a series of projects related to security at airports. Krassimir participates in several security research projects and is the Coordinator of one of the biggest Integrated Projects in Security Research in FP 7, EFFISEC – Efficient Security Check-points.
He was seconded to Frontex by what was the UK Immigration Service (since April 2008 called the UK Border Agency) arriving in Warsaw shortly prior to the start of Frontex operations on October 3, 2005.
For the first year of operations, he acted as head of the Risk Analysis Unit, whose work drives the operational activities of Frontex. Most of his current work for the Agency is focused on developing operational and technical cooperation with the relevant authorities of third countries. Prior to transferring to Warsaw, he was based at the former UK’s Immigration National Intelligence Service where responsibilities included international liaison as well as the scoping and implementation of UK/EU overseas immigration projects.
She was born in Zeist in the Netherlands in 1980.
She completed her European Studies at the University of The Hague, and Public Administration studies at the University of Leiden. Margreet carried out several research activities in the field of public affairs during her work as a European researcher at Stratagem, a Public Affairs consultancy in The Hague. In December 2005, Margreet joined the office of MEP Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert in the European Parliament in Brussels, where she worked as a policy advisor. In this role, she worked on dossiers in the policy area of transport, covering air, water, rail and road. Her general expertise is in the field of politics and public administration. Margreet joined the Association of European Airlines’ political team as Manager Security and Cargo in January 2011. Margreet is fluent in Dutch and English and has a basic knowledge of German and French. In her free time she is an enthusiastic hockey player and jogger.
Lieutenant Colonel Neil Marks joined the British Army over twenty years ago and has a strategic and operational planning/support background.
Initially completing his officer training at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, he then joined the Corps of Royal Engineers, serving in Germany, which included two tours in the Balkans and a number of overseas detachments. In 1998 he undertook the Army Survey Course and obtained an MSc from Cranfield University in Defence Geographic Information. A mixture of engineer specific and geographic posts then followed, coupled with further overseas detachments. In 2007 he attended the Advanced Command and Staff Course at the UK Defence Academy, where he obtained an MA in Defence Studies. On completion, he moved to the European Union Military Staff as their Chief Geographic Officer, in September 2008. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and Member of the Chartered Management Institute.
Minister of the Interior and Administration in Poland.
He was educated at AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków, Poland. From 1998-2000 he was Deputy Minister, and then Minister in the Ministry of Finance, later to be appointed Government Plenipotentiary for Decentralisation of Public Finance under Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek. In 2003, he was appointed President of the Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture. In 2004, he went on to act as Member of the Management Board of the National Bank of Poland (NBP). From 2004-2006 he served as President of the National Health Fund. From 2006-2007 he was Deputy Mayor of the City of Warsaw. Between 29 November 2007 and 14 October 2009 he served as Governor of the Małopolska Province of southern Poland.
He is Managing Director of Crisis Response and Operational Coordination at the European External Action Service.
Between 1991 and 2001 he was coordinator of emergency operations performed by the Italian Development Cooperation Ministry of Foreign Affairs, prior to which he was coordinator of health cooperation programmes in Africa for the Italian Development Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He holds a Degree in Medicine from the University of Milan Faculty of Medicine and has served as a medical doctor and volunteer in a health cooperation programme in Zimbabwe as well as being responsible for the emergency humanitarian operation performed by the Italian Government in Ethiopia-Makalle during the famine in the Sub- Saharan Region between 1984 and 1985. He was rewarded by the Italian President of the Republic with a Gold medal for Public Health Merit and appointed Officer Knight and Commander of the Italian Republic.
He has served as Director of Global Law Enforcement Solutions for ESRI since May 1998.
Mr. Nelson is a retired Chief of Police from California with 30 years of law enforcement experience. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, California Command College and FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development programme. He holds both a Master of Arts degree in Public Administration and a Master of Science in Management Science as well as an Executive Certificate from California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. Mr. Nelson has been a GIS user and advocate for its use in law enforcement for over 20 years. During the past 13 years he has consulted with numerous government agencies worldwide and made hundreds of presentations on GIS applications in law enforcement, criminal justice, emergency management, and homeland security to audiences in over 50 countries.
For more than five years, Dr. Frank Paul headed the Unit “Large-scale IT systems”, the largest operational unit within the European Commission’s Directorate-General Justice, Freedom and Security.
From 1 October 2008, he managed the unit “IT systems: Infrastructure and Legal Issues”. In January 2009 following a reorganisation of the Directorate-General, he was promoted and appointed head of the Unit "Large-Scale IT systems and Biometrics", which manages the development of the second-generation SIS (Schengen Information System, one of the largest border control and police information systems worldwide) and the future VIS (Visa Information System, which will allow the exchange of alphanumeric and biometric visa data among Member States) and related Biometric Matching System.
Dr. Paul has a legal background in German, French and International Law and joined the European Commission in 1993 as a Permanent Official. Coming from the Commission’s Legal Service, he joined the then Task Force Justice and Home Affairs (now a Directorate- General) in 1998 and before his appointment as Head of Unit, worked as a project manager for EURODAC and on a variety of legal and organisational issues all related to Asylum and Immigration.
Director of Operations Division, Frontex Agency, Warsaw (since 01.09.2008)
He was born in Hochstadt/Main, Germany, on 21 August 1955. He was in the service of the German Federal Police (former Bundesgrenzschutz) since 01 July 1974; after passing the Border Guard academy covering several management functions on mid level (platoon leader, deputy Head of unit, specialized instructor)
Main previous functions at senior management level:
1989/90 Deputy Head of Federal Border Police Battalion
1990/95 Instructor on operational management at Federal Border Police Academy
1996/2001 Head of Federal Border Police Office Munich Airport
2001/2002 Senior consultant with Federal Ministry of Interior
2003/2004 Head of border issues branch with the EUPOL mission PROXIMA (FYROM)
2005/2008 Head of Federal Police District Office at Schwandorf.
He holds a Master’s degree in Criminology from the University of Liege, Belgium, and a Bachelor’s degree in Social and Military Sciences from the Royal Military Academy, Brussels, Belgium.
He also holds a University Diploma in Law and Criminal Science from University of Paris XI. Schlentz speaks fluent Luxembourgish, English, German and French.
A citizen of Luxembourg, Schlentz has contributed to the management of the external borders of the EU Member States for around ten years. He has participated in and led numerous Schengen Evaluation missions and chaired the Schengen Evaluation Committee as well as the Frontiers Working Group at the Council of the EU. When Frontex became operational in autumn 2005, Schlentz began his tenure there as Principal Air Border Operations Officer. Currently, he is the Head of Pooled Resources Unit in the Capacity Building Division.
Paweł Świeboda is President of demosEUROPA – Centre for European Strategy.
A graduate of the London School of Economics and the University of London he served as the EU Advisor to the President of Poland in the years 1996-2000. He then headed the Office for European Integration in the Chancellery of the President. In the years 2001-2006 he served as Director of the Department of the European Union in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He is a Member of the Lisbon Council, Member of the Advisory Board of the European Policy Centre, Member of the Advisory Board of the Baltic Development Forum and Member of the Advisory Group which assists the Polish government in its preparations for the EU presidency in 2011. Author of numerous articles on European integration and international relations, he has a column on foreign policy in “Gazeta Wyborcza”.
She is currently Head of Unit for the Policy and Legal Support Unit in the Bureau for Europe of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
From 2004 to July 2009, she headed the EU Policy Unit at UNHCR’s Liaison Office to the EU. Ms Garlick holds an LL.M. in international law from Cambridge, UK, as well as B.A.(Hons) and LL.B (Hons) degrees from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. She is qualified and has practised as a lawyer in Victoria, Australia. From 1996 to 1999, she worked in Bosnia and Herzegovina with the Commission for Real Property Claims of Displaced Persons and Refugees (CRPC), and later the Legal and Human Rights Unit of the Office of the High Representative (OHR), specialising in legal work on the property rights of displaced persons. She subsequently served in Cyprus, with the UN Secretary General's Good Offices mission, as part of the team that facilitated negotiations between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots between 1999 and 2004.
She is a German national employed with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) since 1989.
Her assignments have been mainly in Asia and Europe developing her career from programme/development officer and Chief of Mission to postings as Regional Representative for Central Europe in Vienna and later in Bangkok responsible for South East Asia. Since 2009, Ms Vojackova-Sollorano has been based at the IOM Headquarters in Geneva initially as Deputy Chief of Staff and, since September 2010, as Director of the Department of Migration Management. During her career she has developed expertise in emergency response and various aspects of migration management such as labour migration, integration, return, resettlement, border management, migrant training, counter-trafficking, and migrant health among others. As a board member to several migration research institutions she is also involved in analytical and forward looking discussions on emerging issues.
He is Director General of the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD).
During his 35 years of professional service he has gained extensive experience in the Austrian Ministry of the Interior, including as Deputy Director General for Public Security responsible for aliens police, visa and border management, national crisis management, civil protection and air police. Since 1995 he has also served as Head of Austrian delegation to the EU visa working group, and since 2003 as Head of Austrian delegation in the Strategic Committee on Immigration, Frontiers and Asylum (SCIFA). He also has extensive experience of bilateral and multilateral cooperation with various stakeholders including governments, EU institutions, international organisations, research institutions and NGOs migration and border issues.