Dr Benita Ferrero-Waldner
European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood policy

Strengthening the partnership between the EU and its neighbours - Signature of EU-Moldova-Ukraine Memorandum of Understanding

Palanca cross border point, 7 October 2005

Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am happy to be here today to sign this Memorandum of Understanding for the EU's Border Assistance Mission. It paves the way for our Mission to start work on 1 December.

The mission is an important signal of the EU's support for Moldova and Ukraine, and for prosperity, stability and security in this region.

We want to build stronger relations with our partners, and to give you the support you need to come closer to us. We share common interests and aspirations, and we face common threats and challenges. It is simply good sense to work more closely together.

The signature of this Memorandum today, and the Border Mission which will start on 1 December, are concrete signs of us working more closely together. They represent a new and deep partnership which will benefit us all.

I would like to praise the political courage and farsightedness of Presidents Voronin and Yuschenko in creating the political climate which has allowed us to plan and implement this project. I hope that this is just the beginning of much greater cooperation, through the European Neighbourhood Policy and our Action Plans, in support of our common goals.

The purpose of the Mission is to build capacity for border management, including customs, on the whole Moldova-Ukraine border. This will help prevent trafficking in people, smuggling of goods, the proliferation of weapons and customs fraud.

The Commission has set aside some €7 million for the Border Assistance Mission for an initial period of 24 months.

We will deploy a number of mobile teams, consisting of approximately 50 border guards and customs officials from EU Member States, to the most relevant locations along the entire border, including the Transnistrian segment. These experts will make unannounced visits to any location on the Moldovan-Ukrainian frontier. They will also make unannounced visits to any inland police station, customs post or revenue accounting office.

The Mission teams will offer advice and on-the-job training to Moldovan and Ukrainian border and customs officials. They will provide guidance on administrative and legislative reforms and anti-corruption strategies and programmes. And they will contribute to increased co-operation and complementarity between customs and border guards - both Moldovan and Ukrainian.

We want to help you manage your border in a more modern and efficient way. This will also make an important contribution to reaching a solution to the Transnistria conflict.

Resolving that conflict will be a tremendous victory for peace, security and stability in our common neighbourhood. We must all work hard to achieve it. The EU is ready to do its part, with our Border Mission but also through the excellent work of our Special Representative, Ambassador Jacobovits de Szeged.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today's ceremony marks a significant development for Europe and for the European Neighbourhood Policy. I am proud that together we have been able to show meaningful results in such a short amount of time. We are bringing real benefits to Europeans both inside and outside the EU. And I look forward to returning here in the near future to see the fruits of our trilateral cooperation.

Thank you.