Solana and Ferrero-Waldner to launch Border

December 1, 2005.

    Assistance Mission in Odessa 30 November
    High Representative Javier Solana and European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, will represent the European Union (EU) in Odessa on 30 November at a ceremony to mark the launch of the EU Border Assistance Mission and the enhanced team of the EU Special Representative for Moldova. The Foreign Minister of Ukraine, Borys Tarasyuk and the Foreign Minister of Moldova, Andrei Stratan will also attend. The Border Assistance Mission will be headed by Brigadier-General Ferenc Banfi of Hungary, and will include border police and customs officials from 16 EU Member States. This Mission will help prevent smuggling, trafficking, and customs fraud, by providing advice and training to improve the capacity of the Moldovan and Ukrainian border and customs services. The Mission will work very closely with the team of the EUSR for Moldova Adriaan Jacobovits de Szeged, which is being strengthened with additional advisors in Kiev, Chisinau and Odessa on issues related to borders.
    On the eve of the ceremony, High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana said: “We launch the Assistance Mission in response to requests from the Ukrainian and Moldovan Presidents, which demonstrated their strong attachment to European values. The mission will also play an important role in building preconditions for seeking a peaceful settlement of the Transnistrian conflict.”
    Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner said: “The EU Border Assistance Mission, organised by the Commission with the participation of experts from 16 Member States, will boost the capacity of the existing Moldovan and Ukrainian border services to carry out effective controls. This should reduce the risk of criminal activities such as trafficking in persons, smuggling, proliferation of weapons and customs fraud. I hope that it can also help ensure that the Chisinau government receives all the duties due to it, which should bring real economic benefits to the country”.
    The Border Assistance Mission has a two year mandate, which can be extended. It will cost around ?8 million. The Mission will have its headquarters in Odessa, and five field offices. It includes 69 experts seconded from EU Member States, as well as some 50 local support staff, bringing the total to nearly 120. Member states who will deploy field staff are Austria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden, United Kingdom.
    The Mission will provide on-the-job training and advice to Moldovan and Ukrainian officials, reinforcing their capacity to carry out effective border and customs controls and border surveillance. The aim is to build confidence and strengthen cross-border co-operation and the exchange of information between the two countries.
    The Mission will operate principally on the Moldova-Ukraine State border, but also in other relevant inland locations.
    Border co-operation and efforts to seek a solution to the frozen conflict in Transnistria featured in the European Neighbourhood Action Plans agreed with both Moldova and Ukraine last year, and the launch of the mission shows the role the ENP is playing in promoting stability and addressing frozen conflicts.
    For more information:
    The EU's relations with Moldova at:
    http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/moldova/intro/index.htm