Newsroom Type: News

On 26 of March a high ranking delegation chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland Mr Radosław Sikorski visited Headquarters of EUBAM in Odessa. During the meeting the Acting Head of EUBAM Mr Slawomir Pichor briefed the guests on the work of Mission in the region and shared the observations of EUBAM experts on the security situation along Moldovan-Ukrainian border. EUBAM management answered the questions of the Minister on the security situation including trends of cross-border crime. During the discussion Mr Sikorski and Mr Pichor also touched upon the future plans of work of EUBAM.

On March 25, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Austria to Ukraine, Mr Wolf Dietrich Heim, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Norway to Ukraine, Mr Jon Elvedal Fredriksen, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Netherlands to Ukraine, Mr Kees Klompenhouwer, and Deputy Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Swiss Confederation to Ukraine, Mr Franz Schneider paid a visit to EUBAM. The ambassadors met with the Acting Head of Mission, Slawomir Pichor to discuss the border security in Ukraine. During the visit Mr. Pichor presented the EUBAM activities and situation in the Mission’s area of responsibilities.

The European Union Border Assistance Mission has been monitoring the activities at the Moldova-Ukraine border, including the Transnistrian segment, in accordance with its mandate. In relation to the current situation, the Ukrainian border authorities have intensified security measures, which led to refusal of entry for an increased number of foreigners who did not meet entry requirements; Russian citizens were among them. Nevertheless, based upon their regular observations, the Mission experts have not witnessed any relevant disruption of movement of people and cargo across the Transnistrian segment.

In the framework of the annual Europe Day celebrations, the European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine (EUBAM) is pleased to announce ‘My Europe’ drawing competition for children from the Republic of Moldova and Odessa or Odessa region aged between 8 and 16 years.

Title: ‘My Europe’

All artworks should be developed with the following themes in mind:

• A Day in Europe

• My Favourite European Painter or Painting

• European City

Terms and conditions of the drawing competition:

1. On the occasion of Europe Day – 9 May – EUBAM announces a drawing competition on the abovementioned theme.

2. This competition is open for all children between 8 and 16 years old divided into three age categories: 8-10, 11-13, 14-16 years.

3. Participants should be attending school in the Republic of Moldova or Odessa or Odessa region, Ukraine.

4. Submission of an entry assumes the acceptance of all terms and conditions of the competition.

5. Drawings should be focused on one of the themes of the competition, using any artistic technique (watercolours, oil painting, drawing, graphics etc.) NB! Computer graphics or 3D works won’t be accepted.

6. Size of works should be minimum 21 cm х 29.7 cm, maximum 29.7 cm х 42 cm. The drawings are submitted without frames.

7. On the back of each drawing the following information should be written: a caption which would explain the drawing (up to 3 lines) as well as first and last name of the artist, age of the artist, his/her tel. number and e-mail address as well as school’s address and tel. number. Additionally, all participants of the competition should fill in application form, which can be dowloaded here.

8. Drawings should be submitted by April 24, 2014, to the following address (Monday to Friday from 9:00 – 17:00):

• For participants from Ukraine: EUBAM HQ, ul. Uytnaya 13, Odessa, 65012;

• For participants from Moldova: EUBAM Office Chisinau, 19, Petricani Str., MD 2012.

9. A jury will select the 6 winners in each country. No appeal on the organisation or on the results of the competition will be accepted. The jury’s decision will be final.

10. Prizes will be awarded to the 6 winners in each country. All participants of the exihibition will receive diplomas of participation.

11. EUBAM has the right to use the artworks and copies of artworks, submitted in the framework of ‘My Europe’ drawing competition, for non-commercial purposes (publication in booklets, catalogues, calendars, websites, etc.) or any other purposes without notifying or compensating the author.

12. EUBAM will retain the copyright of the pictures.

13. EUBAM will keep all the submitted drawings. Drawings will not be returned to the participants.

14. Exhibitions: a selection of artworks from each country will be showcased at an exhibition held at the:

• Greek Foundation for Culture in Odessa – in Ukraine;

• ‘Artico’ Republican Centre for Children and Youth – in Moldova.

15. EUBAM can not be held responsible for force majeure, should the competition be modified or cancelled.

COMPETITION CALENDAR:

Deadline for applications: 24 April 2014

Jury panel: 29 April 2014

Opening of the exhibition: May 2014

For more information please contact:

In Ukraine: Ms Dariia Pokhliebaieva, tel.: +380 482 36 52 74, e-mail: press@eubam.org.

In Moldova: Ms Cristina Turcan, tel.: + 373 68 37 59 75, e-mail: press@eubam.org.

Chisinau, 4 March – More than forty Moldovan border policemen and officers of the Bureau for Migration and Asylum of the Ministry of Internal Affairs started a three-day training course to improve their ability to detect forged travel documents.

The EUBAM course provides basic information available in document security to the officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. With advancing technology the fake documents are getting more and more sophisticated. That’s why it is important that the border officers’ knowledge is up-to-date.

“Fake IDs are a problem not only for Moldova, but also present a global challenge, especially in light of international terrorism and human trafficking. Many crimes can be avoided or solved by detecting forged documents,” said Matthias Ambrecht, the EUBAM Border Police Expert conducting the training.

“The information offered during the training is useful for our work because we are dealing with foreign travel documents on daily basis. It helps us identify forgeries and also learn from the experience of our European colleagues”, said Dumitru Salaru of the Bureau for Migration and Asylum.

The course focuses on the visual and electronic security features of identification documents and participants receive practical tips on how to distinguish genuine identification documents from forgeries. The course topics include forgery methods, Schengen visa, selected foreign passports and detection of impostors using valid documents.

Smuggling of cigarettes through the central sector of Moldovan – Ukrainian border was the most serious risks to border security on the Ukrainian-Moldovan border in 2013. To tackle this risk, representatives from customs and law enforcement agencies of Moldova and Ukraine got together at EUBAM headquarters for a Task Force Tobacco meeting.

The aim of the meeting was to plan cooperative measures in fighting and preventing the illegal activity in the area of tobacco product smuggling. The participants discussed proposals concerning operational aspects of counteracting cigarettes smuggling in the region. EUBAM used the opportunity to present to the Moldovan and Ukrainian partners the EU multi-level approach.

The Mission prepared the ground for further cooperation of Moldovan and Ukrainian colleagues with their international partners. This time the Ukrainian and Moldovan customs officers were joined by their EU colleagues from European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and HM Revenue and Customs (UK).

The Task Force Tobacco was established in 2010 and since then it has coordinated the joint efforts of Ukrainian and Moldovan customs agencies in combating the smuggling of tobacco products from Moldova and Ukraine into the European Union.

Chisinau, 13 February 2014 – More than 100 students discussed the best EU practice in good governance and fight against corruption during an EUBAM-organised lecture for the students of Free International University and the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova.

‘This is my favorite EUBAM lecture of all I attended earlier. I didn’t know how effectively the other countries are fighting corruption, so for me it was a great opportunity to learn  more about corruption. Being part of younger generation, I hope I can continue the fight against corruption to help our country prosper’ said Oleg Jekov, a 3^rd year student from International Relations Department.

The lecture, delivered by EUBAM Anti-Corruption Specialist Pawel Rutkowski, included theoretical discussions and examples of best EU practices in fight against corruption and the unique anti-corruption challenges facing Moldova.

The lecture was the first in the EUBAM lecture series this academic year. EUBAM has delivered lectures in its partner universities in Moldova since 2009.

Odessa, 31 January 2014 – EUBAM hosted a meeting of an EU funded project fighting heroin trafficking in the South Caucasus, Black Sea and Central Asia regions.

The aim of EU “Heroin Route II – Information Networks” project is to promote regional and trans-regional co-operation, assisting law enforcement along the route to develop future operational strategies against heroin trafficking.

The meeting underlined the importance of future co-operation in the field of fighting against drug trafficking between law enforcement agencies at an operational level, and agreed on future activities to assist in targeting the smugglers.

More than 20 law enforcement officials from Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, Turkey and Azerbaijan attended the meeting in Odessa.

The Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine, Ambassador Jan Tombinski, was today joined by the new Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Moldova, Mr Pirkka Tapiola, in addressing the 21st Advisory Board Meeting of the European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine in Odessa.

The Advisory Board Meeting of EUBAM again saw representatives from the Moldovan and Ukrainian foreign ministries, border and law enforcement agencies of Moldova and Ukraine, and international organisations such as the United Nations Development Programme, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and International Organization for Migration (IOM) gather under the chairmanship of Ambassador Tombinski.

During the meeting EUBAM reported on the last six months of activities. The Head of EUBAM, Mr Udo Burkholder, shared with the Advisory Board the results of the 11th Joint Border Control Operation ‘Ovidius’ and customs joint operation ‘Pontus Euxinus’, addressed recent developments in the process of demarcation of the Moldova-Ukraine border, and received the approval of the Advisory Board for the Mission’s Phase 10 activities, which will start in December.

Ambassador Tapiola also congratulated the IOM on becoming EUBAM’s new implementing partner from 1 December.

“We are a busy Mission and there is always more to be done,” reflected Mr Burkholder, “If there is one area where I believe we have contributed greatly to the work of our partners, I think it is in the area of cooperation, where we have been able to facilitate much better collaboration and exchange of information between the border agencies of Moldova and Ukraine, and between them and European Union law-enforcement agencies. This is the key to addressing issues such as cross-border crime, border security, movement of people and goods, and efficient control procedures.”

During a press tour to Mogilev-Podolski yesterday, EUBAM and its Moldovan and Ukrainian partners disseminated the first copies of a new information leaflet designed to inform travellers of essential customs, security and border-crossing information – whether entering Ukraine or Moldova.

The project is part of EUBAM’s efforts to support partners enhance their communication and public-information efficacy. As well as informing travellers of their rights and obligations, the provision of public information at the border is also an important pillar of transparency and the fight against corruption. The quality and clarity of information provided to the public has an important bearing on vulnerability to corruption; good public information also reduces uncertainty and enhances predictability for people crossing the border.

EUBAM has for the moment printed 30,000 copies of the leaflet, which partners will now disseminate at border-crossing points along the Moldova-Ukraine border, with the exception of the central (or Transnistrian) sector. It is also envisaged that they will upload the leaflet information onto their websites.

The leaflet – published in Russian, Ukrainian, English and Moldovan languages – consolidates important border-crossing information such as documentation requirements, prohibited items, customs allowances, driving rules and speed limits, emergency contacts, etc, with Moldovan information featured on one side and Ukrainian on the other.

This project is modelled on the EURO 2012 ‘Border Crossing and Security Guide’ for football fans that EUBAM developed with Ukrainian and Polish border agencies last year, when 400,000 copies of that leaflet were distributed via web portals, at border crossing points on the Poland-Ukraine border, and at EURO 2012 host-city airports.

As part of its ongoing engagement with civil society and in particular the academic community, the European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine has signed a Joint Statement on Cooperation with the Crimean Law Institute of the National University “Yaroslav Mudry Law Academy of Ukraine”.

This brings to 12 the number of universities in Moldova and Ukraine that EUBAM has entered into cooperation with. The Mission now looks forward to involving students from the Crimean Law Institute in some of its students activities, including ‘Youth against Corruption’ school, ‘Borders of Europe’ summer school, EUBAM open days, and lectures programme.

The European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine (EUBAM) was this week delighted to welcome members of the EU’s Committee on Civilian Aspects of Crisis Management (CIVCOM) to meet staff at the Mission’s Odessa headquarters and to observe field operations at Kuchurgan Field Office and adjacent border-crossing points.

The visit, carried out over two days from 18-20 September, was the second such visit of CIVCOM to EUBAM following the group’s visit in June 2007. On this occasion 21 of the Committee’s 28 members made the trip, including the Committee chairman, Mika-Markus Leinonen from Finland.

CIVCOM – an essential part of the European External Action Service – was created in 2000 in order to improve the crisis-response capabilities of the European Union. It is comprised of 28 delegates, one from each member state, and holds sessions in Brussels on a weekly basis. CIVCOM also pays periodic visits to the EU’s civilian missions around the world, on the basis of which it evaluates information and options, monitors progress, and drafts recommendations for the EU’s Political and Security Committee (PSC, the political and strategic arm of the EU’s crisis-management operations).

EUBAM reports to both permanent committees of the EU (PSC and CIVCOM) twice a year, with the PSC having also visited EUBAM once before – in December 2011. A field visit to Field Office Kuchurgan and to border-crossing points at Kuchurgan and Palanca last Thursday will have helped inform the CIVCOM members as to EUBAM’s impact on the ground. Their opinion, and report on EUBAM’s progress, will also prove crucial when it comes to considering the future direction of the Mission.

EUBAM has completed its evaluation of the 11th Joint Border Control Operation (JBCO) ‘Ovidius’. The operation, which aimed to improve inter-agency and international cooperation, and enhance border-control measures in order to prevent cross-border crime, was carried out in July 2013.

The evaluation report gives an overview of planning, implementation and outcome of the operation. ‘Ovidius’ provided an excellent opportunity for law-enforcement agencies in Moldova and Ukraine to interact and exchange intelligence, and open up new investigations.

‘Ovidius’ saw EUBAM once again engaging a number of international partners to assist the Mission’s partner services in disrupting criminal activity at the border. The key stakeholders to take part this time were Europol, Frontex, the Southeast European Law Enforcement Center (SELEC), the World Customs Organization’s Regional Intelligence Liaison Office for Eastern and Central Europe (WCO RILO ECE), and the law-enforcement authorities of several EU Member States (Austria, Germany, Italy, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia).

‘Ovidius’ deployed special Task Force Teams to operate at selected seaports, airports, land border crossing points, and inland customs points, and to target specific types of crime.

During the operational phase of ‘Ovidius’, the partner services reported 116 incidents; seized 100,000 pieces of cigarettes, 19 vehicles, 3,896 litres of alcohol and two weapons; 81 people were sanctioned for violations of the border regime; 13 illegal migrants and three facilitators were detained. Non-declared consumer goods were detected in 10 cases, with the total value of seized goods amounting to EUR 300,000.

EUBAM carried out another landmark activity recently by inviting Moldovan, Ukrainian and EU partners to Odessa to discuss the confiscation of assets derived from organised crime. Those in attendance also addressed ways of simplifying existing rules and filling important gaps that are being exploited by organised criminal groups, and to enhance the ability of Ukrainian and Moldovan authorities to confiscate assets that have been transferred to third parties.

Joining participants from the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, Ministry of Revenue and Duties, General Prosecutor’s Office and Supreme Court, Customs Service of Moldova, Information and Security Service of Moldova, Moldovan General Prosecutor’s Office and Supreme Court was the Head of the Austrian Criminal Intelligence Service Asset Recovery Office. He shared information about EU best practices in asset recovery issues, including the activity of the Camden Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network (CARIN) within the permanent secretariat of Europol’s Criminal Asset Bureau.

Analysis from the UN Office for Drugs and Crime suggests that the total of criminal proceeds is likely to amount to some 3.6% of global GDP, equivalent to about $2.1 trillion (2009). The largest portion of transnational organised crime comes from illicit drugs (20% of the total amount). Drug-related proceeds that are money laundered through the financial system are equivalent to between 0.4% and 0.6% of global GDP.

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 6-13 October in Ivano-Frankovsk, Ukraine.

The European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine (EUBAM) is this week hosting representatives from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Belarusian Customs Committee for a fact-finding mission to the Moldova-Ukraine border in order to examine the Pre-Arrival Information Exchange System (PAIES) in practice.

PAIES is the information-exchange system developed by EUBAM that helps to identify various kinds of customs fraud, improve trade facilitation, and enhance transparency with regard to the movement of goods through Transnistria.

The IOM recently began implementation of a EUR 3.7 million EU-funded project – PRINEX – that will lead to the creation of an electronic pre-arrival information exchange system for the Ukrainian and Belarusian customs authorities that will be installed at border-crossing points on the Belarus-Ukraine border. The two-and-a-half-year project is part of the EU’s Eastern Partnership’s Integrated Border Management Flagship Initiative (EaP IBM).

The PRINEX system will ultimately improve capacity to combat crime and cross-border smuggling, reduce customs fraud, increase the effectiveness of customs-clearance procedures, shorten waiting times at the border, and improve overall service delivery.

It is against this background that PRINEX and officials from the Belarusian Customs Committee and the IOM are undertaking the assessment this week. EUBAM will introduce the visitors to its partners, the customs authorities in both Moldova and Ukraine, and brief them on some of the most important lessons learnt from the Mission’s experience of implementing PAIES since it became operational on the Moldova-Ukraine border in 2008.