1) All and any communication between the Greek Minister of Migration, Notis Mitarachis, and/or his office and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency regarding the return of 1,450 third country nationals mentioned in the video statement. If the number specified in the statement is not accurate, the accurate number of third country nationals the Greek government requested to be returned. 2) All and any communication between the Greek government and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency regarding the return of the third country nationals mentioned in the video statement 3) All and any communication between the Greek government and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency regarding the nationalities of the third country nationals requested to be returned and mentioned in the video statement 4) All and any communication between the Greek government and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency regarding the country/ies the third country nationals mentioned are to be returned 5) All and any communication from the Greek government regarding the legal basis for return of the mentioned third country nationals (i.e. rejection of asylum application after second level appeals, rejection of asylum application on admissibility grounds etc.) which was clarified by you as follows: 1 In accordance with Article 8(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43). Frontex - European Border and Coast Guard Agency www.frontex.europa.eu | Pl. Europejski 6, 00-844 Warsaw, Poland | Tel. +48 22 205 95 00 | Fax +48 22 205 95 01

In my initial email I had narrowed down my information request by referring specifically to communications related to the request the Greek government has made to the Agency (Frontex) in relation to the return of 1,450 third country nationals, based on the public statement made by Greek Migration Minister, Notis Mitarachis on January 14, 2021 (see source below). By "any and all communications" I refer to: - regular exchange of information between Greece and the Agency - the request made by the Greece, as an EU Member State, to Frontex to return 1,450 third country nationals according to Article 48 of Regulation (EU) No. 2019/1896 - information contained in the request or in another communication from Greece to Frontex related to: - the nationalities of the third country nationals; - the country/ies they are to be returned; - their legal status in Greece (e.g. non-asylum applicants, asylum seekers rejected on first/second instance etc.) - Frontex's response to the request - information exchanged between the Greek national contact point for communication and the Agency related to the return of 1,450 third country nationals from Greece - the request made by the Greece, as an EU Member State, to Frontex to return 1,450 third country nationals in accordance to Article 53 of Regulation (EU) No. 2019/1896 - information contained in the request or in another form of communication from Greece to the Agency under Article 53 of Regulation (EU) No. 2019/1896 I note your arguments in your confirmatory application In line with Article 18 of Regulation 1049/2001 and the principle of widest possible access I request that the Transparency Office reconsiders its reply. I would like to bring to your attention that my request concerned communication between an EU Member State, Greece, and an EU Agency, Frontex, documents that should be public and available. I acknowledge your refusal based on Article 4(1)(a) indent three - related to public interest in the context of international relations - , however my request does not refer to communications between the Agency and a third country, but strictly to communication between the Greek Minister of Migration and/or his office and Frontex on the specific matter of return of third country nationals. Alternatively, I requested communications between the Greek national contact point and the Agency, related to the matter. Your reply does not detail the reason for the refusal and does not elaborate on the concrete harm it might cause in case of disclosure. In addition, the communications I requested access to, regarded the return of 1,450 third country nationals, and return operations should be conducted in conformity with respect for fundamental rights. The Agency’s participation in return operations must be governed by a legal basis. Your Office’s reply has failed to justify the reason for refusal to disclose information on the legal basis invoked. Your Office has not addressed the justification of non- Frontex - European Border and Coast Guard Agency www.frontex.europa.eu | Pl. Europejski 6, 00-844 Warsaw, Poland | Tel. +48 22 205 95 00 | Fax +48 22 205 95 01

disclosure of information related to: the nationalities of the third country nationals, the country/ies they are to be returned and their legal status in Greece, and undermining the protection of the public interest as regards international relations. Further on, additionally to my initial request, I am asking your Office to disclose information on: - forced-return monitors that were deployed with the mentioned return intervention, - serious incident reports submitted in relation to the return operation, - if no monitors were deployed, reasoning for not deploying monitors, and - the opinion of the fundamental rights officer regarding the operation In case of refusal to grant access to the documents, I request that your Office states the reasons of the total or partial refusal regarding the following aspects: - The refusal of disclosure of communication between an EU Member State, Greece, and the European Border and Coast Guard; - An explanation to the concrete harm the disclosure might cause; - A justification to the link between disclosure of details of a return operation: nationalities of persons returned, legal status, country/ies to be returned, and undermining public interest - A motivation between the disclosure of the legal basis under which the Agency participated in the return operation and undermining of public interest; - A reply to the additional requests, that are linked to the current application: - forced-return monitors that were deployed with the return intervention, - serious incident reports submitted in relation to the return operation, - if no monitors were deployed, reasoning for not deploying monitors, and - the opinion of the fundamental rights officer regarding the operation." In regard to your confirmatory application and further to our reply of 15 February 2021, please be informed that out of the two documents identified as part of your initial application registered on 25 January 2021, one document contains the information you are applying for while the other document constitutes solely its cover email without any informative value in regard to your application and thus does not fall under your application. Furthermore, the cover email contains primarily personal data, such as names of individuals and/or characteristic features which could lead to the identification of individuals. Its disclosure would undermine the protection of privacy and the integrity of the individual, in particular in accordance with European Union legislation regarding the protection of personal data; therefore, access to it has to be precluded pursuant to Article 4(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001. For these reasons, the cover email cannot be disclosed. In regard to the document that falls within the scope of your application, access had to be refused as it contains concrete information which disclosure would be detrimental to the relationship of the European Union and its Member States with a third country,2 including negotiations with this country3, with both being severely hampered if the document were to be released. I concur also with our reply of 15 February 2021 that it is not possible to provide further information as to why this document cannot 2 Cf. Judgment of the General Court of 7 February 2018 in case T-851/16, In 't Access Info Europe v Commission, paras 53, et seq. 3 Cf. Judgment of the General Court of 11 July 2018 in case T-644/16, ClientEarth v Commission, para. 48. Frontex - European Border and Coast Guard Agency www.frontex.europa.eu | Pl. Europejski 6, 00-844 Warsaw, Poland | Tel. +48 22 205 95 00 | Fax +48 22 205 95 01

be disclosed without revealing its contents and without thereby depriving this exception of its very purpose.4 In sum, I uphold the decision of 15 February 2021 regarding this document. In regard to your request to address “the justification of non-disclosure of information related to: the nationalities of the third country nationals, the country/ies they are to be returned and their legal status in Greece, and undermining the protection of the public interest as regards international relations”, please note that these pieces of information are not contained in the two documents. Kindly be informed that the documents you referred to under “Further on, additionally to my initial request, I am asking your Office to disclose information on: …” did not form part of your initial application and can thus not be subject to a reconsideration within the meaning of Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001. In accordance with Article 8(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001, you are entitled to institute court proceedings and/or make a complaint to the European Ombudsman under the relevant provisions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. 4 Judgment of the Court of first Instance of 25 April 2007 in case T-264/04, WWF European Policy Programme v Council, para. 37. Frontex - European Border and Coast Guard Agency www.frontex.europa.eu | Pl. Europejski 6, 00-844 Warsaw, Poland | Tel. +48 22 205 95 00 | Fax +48 22 205 95 01