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The continuous postponement of the EU’s new border system – the Entry/Exit System – may be linked to the Russian office of the French IT group Atos contracted for building the software.
The EU prosecutors are currently investigating how the Moscow office of Atos helped in building the system and concerns have already been raised about security, Schengen.News reports.
As the Financial Times explains, the French company used staff who were in Russia to buy software back in 2021.
The involvement of Russia in this project, which is highly sensitive and whose aim is to gather as well as store information on non-EU nationals entering the bloc, has stirred debate and, at the same time, has also raised security questions about the overhaul of the border system deemed as very important for a number of reasons.
Some leaked papers that have been seen by the Financial Times suggest that the branch of the French company in Moscow carried out its operations under a licence that would permit the FSB security service of Russia to access its work in the country.
Four individuals who know of the event noted that the staff in Moscow was directly involved in the purchase of the software.
Now that such information has been revealed, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office is looking for further details and into the involvement of the Moscow branch in the new border system of the EU.
During the time that the investigation is ongoing, the Prosecutor’s Office said that they would not make any comments on the matter, so it is yet to be seen what else will be disclosed once the investigation is complete.
EU-Lisa Aware of Allegations Related to Atos Russia Involvement
Last year, Olaf, the anti-fraud watchdog of the EU, carried out an investigation over the allegations that Atos Russia is involved in the matter. According to a source, it was found that the measures taken by EU-Lisa to address the security issues were not sufficient.
Back then, EU-Lisa said that it was aware of such allegations. The same stressed that EU-Lisa never has any contractual relations with Atos Russia.
In addition to the above-mentioned, EU-Lisa said that they had not identified any breaches related to security and, at the same time, noted that the agency had been carrying out system security checks and has taken all necessary steps since being aware of the matter.
According to the documents obtained by the Financial Times, the licenses for the software were purchased through the branch of Atos in Moscow in 2021. Moreover, there is no evidence that shows that the branch was involved in the work for the EES after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Yet, it is still to be seen what the investigation from the Prosecutor’s Office will find and what will be the next steps for the introduction of the EES.
Source: https://schengen.news/eus-entry-exit-system-launch-delay-may-be-linked-to-russian-branch-of-french-it-company/
