EUBAM assists partner services in promoting legitimate travel and trade across the border while ensuring border security and helping cut crime.
Integrated Border Management, or IBM, may sound like another piece of technical jargon, but is actually the concept the EU has embraced for coherent and coordinated border management systems. It is designed to ensure that Governments maintain secure borders with as little inconvenience to travelers and cross-border trade as possible. It emphasizes co-ordination within and between border services, as well as international co-operation. In this video, Razvan Budeanu, Head of EUBAM’s Field Operations, explains IBM and how EUBAM is supporting both Ukraine and Moldova in its implementation.
The IBM concept has been at the heart of the Mission’s work since its establishment in 2005. EUBAM has worked with policy makers to develop legislation, strategies and procedures to ensure the concept is enshrined in both Moldova and Ukraine. National Integrated Border Management Strategies are currently being implemented in both countries, and EUBAM is supporting this through the 58 border and customs experts working at Border Crossing Points. Colonel Vladyslav Vasylkivskyy, Head of the Border Control Department of the South Regional Directorate of Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service explains how the Mission has supported Ukraine.
As Colonel Vasylkivskyy noted, joint patrolling of the Ukraine-Moldova border was introduced in 2011 with the support of EUBAM. This currently takes place on 752 out of the 1,222 km-long border by Moldova’s Border Police and Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service. Joint patrolling has improved the operational co-operation and co-ordination between the two services, allowing them to respond quicker and more coherently to cross-border threats. It is also more cost-efficient. Jarmo Kemppinen of EUBAM’s Field Office in Kuchurhan explains how joint patrolling works in this photo slideshow.
Not all of EUBAM’s support for IBM implementation is provided at the border however. In 2006, Ukraine and Moldova agreed to the pre-arrival exchange of information of goods being transported between the two countries. This system, known as PAIES, was launched in April 2008 with EUBAM support and enables the customs services in both countries to perform fast clearance of low risk goods when they arrive. This in turn allows for better organization of cargo flow and less queues at border crossing points. The system has proven to be so effective that in May 2014 the European Commission used PAIES as the basis for pilot information exchanges between Ukraine and the neighbouring EU countries of Romania, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary. The system was also been replicated on the Ukraine-Belarus border in 2013. In the below article, EUBAM expert Sofia Olsson explains how PAIES works and its benefits.
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Who we are?
The European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine (EUBAM) was launched in 2005. The legal basis for EUBAM is the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the European Commission and the Governments of Moldova and Ukraine on 7 October 2005. The current Mission’s mandate is valid until 30 November 2023.
EUBAM works in the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine to:
- Promote European border management standards and procedures for a quicker crossing of people and goods;
- Enhance the professional capacities of the Moldovan and Ukrainian Customs and Border Authorities;
- Assist Moldovan Ukrainian authorities in combating cross-border crime more efficiently;
- Act as a catalyst and bring together key stakeholders to strengthen cross-border cooperation between the border authorities and law enforcement agencies;
- Contribute to the peaceful settlement of the Transnistrian conflict.
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What we do?
EUBAM works in the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine to:
- Promote European border management standards and procedures for a quicker crossing of people and goods;
- Enhance the professional capacities of the Moldovan and Ukrainian Customs and Border Authorities;
- Assist Moldovan Ukrainian authorities in combating cross-border crime more efficiently;
- Act as a catalyst and bring together key stakeholders to strengthen cross-border cooperation between the border authorities and law enforcement agencies;
- Contribute to the peaceful settlement of the Transnistrian conflict.
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Where we work?
The Mission is headquartered in Odesa, Ukraine and in addition, has two country offices (Chisinau, Moldova and Odesa, Ukraine) and key working locations on the border.
The Moldovan-Ukrainian state border is 1222 km long, of which 955 km is the “green” (land) border, and 267 km is the “blue” (river) border.
There are 67 official crossing points on the Moldovan-Ukrainian border, including international, interstate and local ones, 25 of which are located on the central (Transnistrian) segment.
The length of the Administrative Line between the two banks of the Nistru/Dniester is 411 km. There are 9 customs posts along the Line, where representatives of the Customs Service of the Republic of Moldova conduct customs control with the support of the Ministry of Internal Affairs representatives. There are also 6 subdivisions of the Bureau for Migration and Refugees, where foreigners can voluntarily register or deregister.
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