On 06 September, the official opening of the Common Contact Point ‘Palanca’ (CCP) took place at the premises of the jointly operated border crossing point ‘Palanca-Mayaky-Udobne’. The event was attended by the senior management of the border agencies of the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, the Head of European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine and the representatives of the International Organization for Migration.

The establishment of CCP ‘Palanca’ is a result of coordinated efforts of the Border Police of the Republic of Moldova and the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. CCP ‘Palanca’ will ensure timely information exchange between the border agencies of the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine in relation to persons and vehicles crossing the border, alerts lists, specificities of local traffic, circumstances that could impact or affect the situation on the border as well as any other information relevant for situational assessment.

The opening of the Common Contact Point ‘Palanca’ delivers one of the major objectives under the Project ‘Enhancing Integrated Border Management along the Ukraine-Moldova Border’, financed by the European Union through the Eastern Partnership Integrated Border Management Flagship Initiative and implemented by IOM with EUBAM support.

‘CCP ‘Palanca’ will contribute to more effective combating of illegal migration, human trafficking and forged travel documents, finally, to strengthening the border security in the region’, said the Head of EUBAM, Slawomir Pichor.