The cooperation of the Greek government and the European Border and FRONTEX, which, although at first experienced a number of difficulties, has been sailing in "calm waters" and has found a common ground of cooperation during the peak of the refugee drama.

In the first ten months of 2018, the number of irregular border crossings into the EU fell by 31% from a year ago to about 118 900, mainly because of lower migratory pressure in the Central Mediterranean.

The first 14-hour operational flight of the unmanned aircraft (HERON 1) operated by FRONTEX for 600 hours of flight in a pilot operation, was completed on 25 September, according to a release from the Hellenic Coast Guard.