The Integrated Border Management Strategy waits for a radical change in response to the demands of the times.

On August 16, 2023, a regular meeting of the Interagency Working Group on the Coordination of Integrated Border Management (IBM) was held.

In accordance with the instructions of the Head of the Interagency Working Group, Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Olha Stefanishyna, the event was chaired by the Head of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine Serhii Deineko.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the Office of the President of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, members of the Ukrainian Parliament, integrated border management entities, NGOs and international organizations.

In the course of the meeting, the Head of the State Border Guard Service drew the participants' attention to the amendments to the Integrated Border Management Strategy introduced by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in view of the challenges and threats of wartime and Ukraine's EU membership.

During the discussion, the First Deputy Head of the State Border Guard Service Volodymyr Nikiforenko noted: "the work on the development of integrated border management is not over and next year we have to start the process of forming a new vision –  the IBM Future Strategy for the long term".

Serhii Deineko paid attention to the need for mobility of border control: "If Ukraine becomes a part of the European Economic Area, it will not need significant control capacities on the border with the EU countries in the future, as this section of the border will become practically open. Instead, it will be possible to quickly move and effectively use mobile control equipment on other parts of the state border."

International partners welcomed the successful work on the implementation of the IBM Strategy even in the face of russia's armed aggression. Mikko Hroenberh, the Deputy Head of Operations at the European Union Advisory Mission (EUAM), Barbara Rotovnik, Manager of the Borders and Migration Sector at the EU Delegation to Ukraine, and Kei Fukahava, Head of the Migration and Border Management Program at the International Organization for Migration in Ukraine, expressed their sincere condolences to the families of the border guards killed in the war and their unwavering support for all Ukrainian border guards.

As a result of the meeting, the updated composition of the working group was approved, a report on the implementation of the action plan for 2020-2022 to implement the Integrated Border Management Strategy was adopted, the draft Action Plan for 2023-2025 was approved, tasks for the subjects of integrated border management were defined, and a corresponding protocol decision was made.

"I am grateful to the European partners for their comprehensive and broad support of border management in Ukraine," said Serhii Deineko.