EUBAM Board meets in Chisinau for first time

The 11th session of the Advisory Board of the EU Boarder Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine (EUBAM) was held for the first time in Chisinau on Tuesday. The previous 10 sessions were held in Odesa, Info-Prim Neo reports. An official with the Moldovan Foreign Ministry, Anatol Urecheanu, has told the conference that, during three years, the EUBAM has proved the cooperation is possible in any field. The Board assessed the implementation of the EUBAM’s recommendations, established in May 2006, encouraging the Customs and Border Services from both countries to go on implementing them, especially in terms of countering corruption. The next assessing session will take place in November 2009. Following the 5th joint mission implemented by 14 law-enforcing authorities from Moldova and Ukraine, in cooperation with the EUBAM, the services from both countries uncovered 293 cases of smuggling along the green frontier. The total value of good detained exceeds 1 million euros. The authorities undertook special steps to counter trafficking in human beings, illegal migration and fake passports. They particularly uncovered several channels of illegal migration and 6 major cases of illegal migration. Moldova’s Foreign Minister Andrei Stratan remarked at the session that the EUBAM efficiently carries out its duties according its mandate. He has pointed out that the is important that the Mission stays on the field after attaining all its goals. Next year, the mission plans cooperate with Chisinau and Kyiv in eight areas, including the peaceful solution of the Transnistrian conflict, countering corruption and continuing the customs checking along the Moldovan-Ukrainian border.