Europoliticsaccompanied a delegation of the European Parliament’s Defence Subcommittee on a visit to the EU Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM) to Moldova and Ukraine, and was able to talk to the main local and European officials present in the area. The mission’s role is complicated by Transnistria ⁽¹⁾, which proclaimed its independence in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union, after a war that left several hundred dead in 1992. We decided to follow up on this ‘official’ visit with a more discreet and solitary trip to the heart of this breakaway Moldavian republic to take the pulse of an area that remains practically sealed off from the rest of the world, with its Cold War-type borders. This long stretch of territory between the two countries is unquestionably a thorn in Europe’s side and is one of the main reasons for the presence of the EU mission in the region, which was mandated under the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP).

THE EUBAM MISSION

The EU Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM) to Ukraine and Moldova was put in place in December 2005 following the joint request by the two countries for assistance (June 2005) and the signature of a memorandum of understanding (November 2005). The aim was to help the two states to manage their borders more effectively with a view to preventing trafficking, counterfeit goods and customs fraud and to build the capacities of the Moldovan and Ukrainian customs and border guard services, bringing them closer to European standards.

The mission is led by a Hungarian senior law enforcement official, Ferenc Bánfi. It is being conducted in liaison with the EU Representative in Moldova, Kálmán Mizsei. The mission’s headquarters are in Odessa (Ukraine), but its 200 or so agents – 119 experts from 22 member states plus local personnel – are based at six field offices along a border more than 800 kilometres long. The Odessa office is in charge of the commercial sea port and the huge port area; Kuchurhan keeps watch over a segment of 213 km of the border (of which 74 km with Transnistria); Kotovsk is responsible for 400 km (with Transnistria); Otaci to the north covers 312 km, Chisinau to the west 411 km and Basarabeasca to the southwest roughly 300 km of the border.

The mission has a budget of €24 million for the period from November 2007 to November 2009. The Council put in place an original management system, assigning the mission to the European Commission, with execution delegated to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The member states also participate through the secondment of specialised technical staff. The mission manages a €10 million project called BOMMOLUK (Improving Management on the Moldovan-Ukrainian State Border), which focuses on equipment procurement, risk analysis development and training for officers at jointly controlled border crossing points.

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