The delegation of the State Border Service of Ukraine headed by the First Deputy Head of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine Lieutenant General Vasyl Servatiuk took part in the International conference "Border Security in Eastern Europe: Lesson

The delegation of the State Border Service of Ukraine headed by the First Deputy Head of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine Lieutenant General Vasyl Servatiuk took part in the International conference "Border Security in Eastern Europe: Lessons for NATO and its partners" that was held on 1-2 December 2016 in Germany (Berlin).

International conference on the border security in Eastern Europe has become a final international event in the current year, organized by the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), with NATO assistance and direct support and in cooperation with the Foreign Policy Association and the Institute of World Policy.

Further cooperation on improving mechanisms for the protection of the state borders in Eastern Europe, including the Black Sea region, has been determined to be the purpose of the final scientific and practical discussions. What has been taken into consideration is the growing challenges and threats, the similarity of the situation in Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova in connection with military aggression of the Russian Federation and its intervening policy as well as international best practices.

The idea that the common experience exchange between Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia in the sphere of ensuring border security has been of critical importance for the NATO member states and their partners, has become the main message of a series of conferences. Furthermore, this experience combined with advanced best practices will enable to develop effective approaches and new strategic proposals that will make stability in Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region possible.

The International conference was attended by 20 senior officials, experts and scientists of the EU and NATO member states, Ukraine, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, which had an open discussion on hot-button issues of the regional border security.

Individual reports were also delivered by Michael Gaul, Senior Advisor in Emerging Security Challenges Division of the NATO Headquarters, Hans-Peter Hinrichsen, Head of Division for Russia, Belarus, Moldova and Eastern Partnership of the German Foreign Office and Michal Baranowski, the director of GMF's Warsaw office.

In the framework of further development of cooperation in a specified format, the First Deputy Head of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine offered to implement a new joint project aiming at revision of the strategy of border security in the Black Sea region with the support of NATO and European partners.

The strategy should be particularly focused on the fight against international terrorism, illegal arms and ammunition trafficking, combating cross-border smuggling, including drugs, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons, as well as ensuring the safety of the international maritime routes.

During his speech, Vasyl Servatiuk emphasized that only common security space and collective guarantees can ensure an adequate counteraction to the modern security threats and challenges in the region, therefore the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine has been working intensely on expanding international cooperation.

The Conference participants agreed to strengthen collaboration within the established during the 2016 format of the meetings and to continue to cooperate by initiating a joint project, proposed by Ukraine, in order to develop the partnership relations with NATO.

At the same time in the framework of the international meeting, the First Deputy Head of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine Vasyl Servatiuk discussed the issues of bilateral cooperation between the border agencies of Ukraine and Moldova with Viacheslav Garshtia, the newly appointed Deputy Director of the MIA Border Police of the Republic of Moldova.