Operation Themis and its meaning for Italy
Since almost five years now, the migratory phenomenon that from the North African and Middle Eastern coasts crosses the Mediterranean Sea and arrives in the European territory keeps on representing a challenge for those States and the agencies of the European Union (EU) that struggle containing it. With time many EU-led operations, in which Italy has always had a determining role, have been launched for handling the crisis. The most recent one started on the first of February 2018, it is called Themis and is managed by the EU agency Frontex. First of all, it is relevant to remind that Frontex was founded in 2005 as the European Agency for the Management of Operation Cooperation at the External Borders. Its task, in fact, was to help States of the Union implementing the communitarian rules about checks at the borders of the Schengen area, ensuring that the efficiency standard was kept at high levels, and coordinating the collaboration among Member States on the matter.