Chisinau hosted the EUBAM’s 29th Advisory Board Meeting. The meeting welcomed the three-year extension of EUBAM’s mandate from December 1, 2017 until November 30, 2020. It also approved the Mission’s activity report for May-November 2017, IPN reports, with reference to a press release of the EU Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine.

Chairman of the Advisory Board, European Union Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova Peter Michalko stated that the next few years, EUBAM will focus further on delivering technical support to the Transnistrian settlement process. “Furthermore, its focus on combatting cross-border crime will continue under the new mandate as well as its assistance to the competent Moldovan and Ukrainian authorities to fully implement systems related to Integrated Border Management. They will further enable private and business travellers to smoothly travel between both countries,” he said.

Stephan Dahlgren, representative from the EU Delegation to Ukraine, said that the European Union supports the improvement works at the Moldovan-Ukrainian border crossing points for a total of €10 million over the next two years. EUBAM’s assistance will help ensure the implementation of the joint border management of the Kuchurgan, Reni, and Palanca border crossing points.

For his part, the new Head of EUBAM Slawomir Pichor addressed the meeting by expressing his gratitude for being given the opportunity to lead EUBAM at the beginning of the Mission’s new mandate. “I want to pay tribute to my predecessors for the great work they did and on whose achievements I will now build further.  My main priorities will be to contribute to a qualitative change in the border management and to provide technical support to Transnistrian settlement process,” he stated.

Tatiana Molcean, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova, noted: “Among the most important achievements in 2017, we want to highlight the establishment of the joint control points at the Moldovan-Ukrainian border Kuchurgan – Pervomaisc and Palanca – Maiaky – Udobnoe. With a view to the future, we are pleased to see there is ground to improve and extend joint border control mechanisms. We are grateful to EUBAM for the expertise provided during the development of a number of pilot projects. Its knowledge and its role of liaison between Moldova and Ukraine should be maintained,” she said.