Newsroom Type: News

The European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine (EUBAM) with the support of the Border Police Department of the Ministry of the Internal Affairs and the Customs Service of Moldova, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine and the Ministry of Revenues and Duties of Ukraine is delighted to announce an open competition for journalists ‘Modern border and a new role of border guard and customs agencies’.

EUBAM together with the National Anticorruption Center of the Republic of Moldova and the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine is delighted to announce   a call for applications for the next school “Youth Against Corruption” which will take place on 3-10 August in Vadul lui Vodă, Moldova.

For more details on the application process please follow the link: Summer_School_2014_2.pdf

Odessa, June 16. Over the past six months, a ‘Borders of Europe’ study course brought together 21 Ukrainian university students for a series of lectures on the European Union. The students learned about European institutions, good governance and anti-corruption standards, EU best practices in combating organised crime and the role of law-enforcement agencies in promoting peace and security. Lecturers included academics, researchers, as well as experts from the European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine (EUBAM).

During three training sessions, the students also had an opportunity to enhance their skills in management, negotiations and effective communications.

The course was organised by EUBAM in cooperation with the Odessa-based National University ‘Odessa Law Academy’, National I.I. Mechnikov University, National Economics University, Regional Institute of Public Administration of the National Academy of Public Administration and State University of Internal Affairs.

Two cadets from the Odessa State University of Internal Affairs were among the students completing the course. Oleg, one of them, said that the course would be useful in his profession as a police officer: “This experience was very interesting. What I learnt at the course will come handy in my future tasks and someday, hopefully, I will write a thesis on one of the topics that we studied here.”

“I am planning to continue my education at the Central European University in Budapest, that’s why I use every opportunity to be better prepared,” said Maryna, a student from Odessa National University, who had achieved the highest score in the final test of the course. She received a special award from the EUBAM Head of Mission at a small end-of-course ceremony held on 13 June.

‘Borders of Europe’ is a recurrent initiative; so far some 70 students have completed successfully the course.

The European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine was launched in 2005 to promote border control and customs norms and practices that meet European standards and to serve the needs of Moldovan and Ukrainian citizens and trade. EUBAM activities help advancing economic development and enhancing border security.

A high-level conference devoted to confidence-building activities regarding the Transnistrian issue was held in the German city of Freising on 10-11 June 2014.

At the request of the Chair, EUBAM presented two proposals to the conference. One concerned the implementation of a joint Moldova-Transnistria customs operation for preventing and combatting smuggling. There was no consensus on how to proceed in this regard. A second proposal concerned steps towards the possible creation of a common economic space over the banks of the Dniester River. Both Chisinau and Tiraspol expressed an interest in principle and outlined options close to those set forth by EUBAM. They agreed to continue discussions in the framework of the working group on ‘Economy and Trade’ within the 5+2 negotiating forum.

The conference was an OSCE initiative, funded by the German Federal Foreign Office. It was attended, among others, by officials from Germany, OSCE, Ukraine, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Moldova and Transnistria, the European Union and the United States. It addressed three thematic areas: ‘Economy, Trade and Infrastructure’, ‘Education’, and ‘Ecology’.

EUBAM invites students to take part in its Summer School ‘Borders of Europe’. The School will be aimed at sharing knowledge about the European Union, EU values and current EU developments, in particular in the area of border management. Also throughout the Summer School students will be able to participate in training sessions on leadership, PR and intercultural and social competence.

DATES AND VENUE: July 6 – 12, 2014, Odessa, Ukraine

WORKING LANGUAGES:  English and Russian

ELIGIBILITY AND REQUIREMENTS:

Participation in the Summer School is open to the 2nd – 4th  year students with a background in International Relations, International Law, European Studies, Political or Social Science or related fields from one of the following universities: Odessa National I.I. Mechnikov University, National University ‘Odessa Law Academy’, Odessa State Economic University, Odessa Regional Institute of Public Administration of the National Academy of Public Administration, Office of the President of Ukraine, Odessa State University of Internal Affairs, Lviv State University of Internal Affairs, Donetsk State University of Management, Donetsk National Technical University, Donetsk National University of Economics and Trade named after M. Tugan-Baranovsky, Free International University of Moldova, Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova and Crimea Law Institute of the National University ‘Yaroslav Mudry Law Academy of Ukraine’, Academy of Customs Service of Ukraine, National B. Khmelnitskii Academy of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.

Personal skills: motivated, active and open-minded. Language skills: fluency in both English and Russian.

NB! All participants from the Republic of Moldova must have a valid foreign passport.

HOW TO APPLY:

Applicants must send the following documents to schools@eubam.org

1) CV in English;

2) Letter of motivation in English (maximum 1 page) explaining why you would like to participate in EUBAM Summer School ‘Borders of Europe’. How will you benefit from participating in it?

3) Copy of the university transcript (in one file)

COSTS:

All expenses related to accommodation and meals during the Summer School ‘Borders of Europe’ will be covered by EUBAM.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: 17 June 2014

For more information please contact Ms Dariia Pokhliebaieva, tel.: 0482 36 52 74, e-mail:  press@eubam.org

Since late April, the Moldovans exiting the country have been given a new leaflet on visa-free travel to Europe. The information material was published by the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the end of April. On April 28, Moldova celebrated the abolition of Schengen visas.

The new guide covers all the major topics related to visa-free travel to Europe, ranging from the document requirements to the terms of stay, potential questions at the border and the emergency contacts.

At the border crossing points, the leaflets are handed out with the passports. It is also available in electronic version.

Additionally, the EU Delegation to Moldova has published a list of answers to frequently asked questions about visa-free travel that you can check online here.

To celebrate Europe day in Moldova and Ukraine, an exhibition of the winning art works of ‘My Europe’ drawing competition was opened in Chisinau May 23, and in Odessa on June 2.

“This competition is great! The best thing is the cakes and the prizes,” Maxim smiled and dedicated his winning piece of art to his teacher in the opening of the exhibition at Greek Foundation for Culture in Odessa. 

This year, more than 700 Moldovan and Ukrainian children, aged between five and sixteen, took part in the competition. The topics for the drawings were ‘My favorite European city’, ‘My favorite European painter’ and ‘My holiday in Europe’. 50 drawings of the Moldovan entries were chosen for the exhibition in Chisinau, and 73 of the Ukrainian drawings for the Odessa exhibition.

“I thought of drawing Big Ben for a whole week, since I saw it first on TV. I chose to go for a Big Ben because I like England very much”, said Daniel, a 12-year old young artist from Chisinau. Besides drawing, the young anglophile enjoys swimming and football. He proudly told he was the only one of 59 school children in his school whose art work was selected for the exhibition.

The drawing competition was organized for the fourth time in Moldova and Ukraine.

In Chisinau, the children’s art work can be seen at the Republican Centre for Children and Youth during the summer months.

In Odessa, the exhibition is held at the Greek Foundation for Culture until end of July.

For the first time as a Head of the European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine, Mr Francesco Bastagli reported on EUBAM activities to members of the Mission’s Advisory Board.

The 22nd Advisory Board Meeting of EUBAM brought together representatives of the EU Delegations in Moldova and Ukraine, the Foreign Ministries of the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine and their the border and law enforcement agencies. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, International Organization for Migration and United Nations Development Programme also participated in the meeting.

The Chair of the meeting, the Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, Ambassador Jan Tombinski, highlighted EUBAM’s engagement in the modernization of customs and border procedures, the visa liberalization process and joint border control operations.

The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Ms Natalia Galibarenko thanked EUBAM for its contribution in capacity building and development of border infrastructure. Ms Galibarenko also highlighted EUBAM support for the new legislation adopted in line with the first phase of visa liberalization action plan. “We are looking forward moving to the second phase of the process”, she continued.

The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova, Mr Iulian Groza expressed his gratitude for the Mission for its support in visa liberalization process, and offered to support the Ukrainian colleagues in this area. Mr Groza also noted that there were a number of new projects developed with EUBAM in the framework of Eastern Partnership programme and Moldova would like to increase the ammount of the jointly operated border crossing points.

“As Moldova and Ukraine move towards European Union standards, the Mission will support reforms in border control and customs legislation, structure and procedures”, the Head of EUBAM, Mr Francesco Bastagli stated. “Besides the deeper involvement in the area of strategic and policy advice, cross-border cooperation of Moldova and Ukrainian authorities, such as joint working groups, joint border control operations and jointly operated border crossing points, will stay among EUBAM priorities.”

Mr Bastagli noted that the contribution to the peaceful settlement of Transnistrian conflict was also a key priority for EUBAM. The Mission would make practical solutions available to the problems encountered in the flow of people, goods and service to and from Transnistria. As Moldova moved towards compliance with the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement requirements, EUBAM could facilitate reasonable connections with the special customs and trade circumstances of Transnistria.

At the end of its deliberations, the Advisory Board took note of EUBAM’s activity reports and of the updates on the security situation and the progress in the border demarcation. The Board also took note of the update provided by the Head of Mission in his introductory statement. It positively assessed the efforts of Ukrainian and Moldovan services towards reforms and approximation to EU standards in border control and customs and highlighted cooperation between the partner services and EUBAM.

The next meeting of the advisory board will take place in October-November 2014 in Chisinau.

On May 10, the Europe Village in the Great National Assembly Square, in central Chisinau, was filled in with hundreds of festival visitors, in spite of the grim weather. The venue was jam-packed with political debates, live music and other cultural activities. This was also where European embassies showcased their countries and EU funded projects presented their work in Moldova. EUBAM and its partners were also there.

Rain or no rain, throughout the day there was a constant stream of people at the EUBAM stand. Most of the visitors wanted to learn more about the mission and European Union. Many of the young visitors remembered the Mission from university lectures EUBAM offers at ASEM and ULIM, local universities.

The visa liberalization to EU has increased people’s interest in travelling.  Moldovan border police used the opportunity to  presented the latest travel documents, including the new biometric passports that meet the current international standards. Mobile document readers and equipment detecting forged travel documents also proved to be a very popular festival attraction. For children, however, the biggest show-stopper was undoubtedly the service dogs of the customs.

Every year, Europe Day celebrates the European unity and peace. The Europe Village raising awareness on EU in Moldova was organized for the sixth time.

On April 30, after EUBAM issued an alert, Romanian Police did a major seizure of cigarettes in Moldova–Romania border. Based on information from Moldovan Customs, EUBAM tracked the suspicious shipment of 12,400,000 pieces of illegal cigarettes and alerted the UK Her Majesty Revenue and Customs, the European Anti-Fraud Office and Europol.

The tobacco products were meant for Greece. If it had reached the target destination, EU budget would have lost an estimated of 400.000 EUR in unpaid customs duties and taxes. European Anti-Fraud Office identified that European Union and its Member States lose more than EUR 10 billion per year because of the illicit trade in cigarettes.

The problem with illegal cigarettes trade nowadays is not only the smuggling of brand-named cigarettes, but also the smuggling of counterfeit cigarettes, which becomes more and more profitable business these days. The so called ‘illicit whites’ are the cigarettes legally produced in one country but then smuggled abroad without customs duties, VAT and excise duties being paid, thus, causing huge loses to the state budgets. They are produced exclusively for export and are not available in the legal market. For instance, ‘Jin Ling’ cigarettes, contained in the seized consignment, are among other countries also manufactured in Moldova. But according to the available data, until now there have been no seizures of ‘Jin Ling’ by the Moldovan Customs on the territory of Moldova.

Cigarette smuggling is presently assessed as one of the most serious risks to border security and combating this phenomenon is a priority for border management services in Moldova and Ukraine. EUBAM leads a Task Force Tobacco which provides for monitoring of transits and exports, sharing analytical and operational information between partner services, coordination of risk management, joint investigations and a range of other enforcement activities such as joint border operations and targeting suspicious shipments.

This was one of the major recent seizures of illegal cigarettes, which followed previous two earlier in April and March this year. All these seizures were the outcomes of the Task Force Tobacco, which was established in 2010 and since then coordinated the joint efforts of Ukrainian and Moldovan customs agencies in combating the smuggling of tobacco products from Moldova and Ukraine to the European Union.

During the visit to EUBAM HQ on 12th of April a delegation of Swedish diplomats headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr Carl Bildt was briefed on the Mission’s achievement and the security situation in the region. The Head of the Mission Mr Francesco Bastagli and Deputy Head of the EUBAM Mr Slawomir Pichor informed the guests about the work of EUBAM and shared observations on the security situation at Moldovan-Ukrainian border. Special attention was given to situation at the Central (Transnistrian) segment of the border. The guests also discussed trade related issues and recent trends in smuggling.

Mr Francesco Bastagli was appointed as Head of the EU Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine on 29 March, 2014.

A former United Nations Assistant Secretary-General, between 2005 and 2006 Mr. Bastagli was Special Representative of Kofi Annan for Western Sahara. Prior to that he served as Deputy Head of the UN Mission in Kosovo (2002 -2005) and as UN Resident Coordinator in the Islamic Republic of Iran (1999-2002).

In a long UN career, Mr. Bastagli also worked in senior positions on drugs and crime control, nuclear energy, the Palestinian question and with refugees in Central America. Before joining EUBAM Mr Bastagli was senior advisor at the Institute for International Political Studies in Milan. As a policy advisor to the UN Drugs and Crime Office he dealt with issues ranging from police reform in Kenya to regional drug and crime control in South Asia.

Mr. Bastagli has lectured on international peace and security at universities, research centres and the Italian Army Institute for Military Studies.