A meeting of the General Border Guard Proxies of Ukraine and Poland Viktor Nazarenko and Marek Lapinsky was held yesterday in Warsaw. During the meeting t

A meeting of the General Border Guard Proxies of Ukraine and Poland Viktor Nazarenko and Marek Lapinsky was held yesterday in Warsaw. During the meeting the Heads of the Border Agencies of two countries discussed the situation on the Ukrainian-Polish border, analysed the state of border security and exchanged information on prevention of unlawful activities during 2015.

The parties noted that the situation on the common border is dynamic but controlled. Illegal migration and smuggling activities continue to remain the main threats. Under these conditions the law violators try to use small aircraft for cigarettes transportation.

An emphasis was also put on the increase of the illegal export of amber from Ukraine. Totally the Ukrainian border guards seized 605 kg of amber on the Ukrainian-Polish border in 2015 that is 9 times more than in 2014 (66 kg).

The Heads of the Border Guard Agencies noted that due to joint efforts the transfer channel of the stolen expensive cars in Poland across the border was discredited and illegal group engaged in cigarettes smuggling was neutralized.

A positive assessment was given to the implementation of the tasks set in the joint Protocol concerning the areas of operational interaction. It was noted that their cooperation was carried out properly. They also recognized the work on combating corruption among the personnel of the border guard services.

Having discussed the issue of border crossing points functioning at the common state border, Viktor Nazarenko and Marek Lapinsky noted that cross-border movement was rhythmical and its complications were stipulated by temporary, periodical factors. In order to improve border control a number of measures was taken to increase the traffic capacity and minimize the complications occurring at the border crossing points. In 2015, the number of persons and vehicles crossing the common border as compared to 2014 increased by 21% and 10% respectively.

The issues discussed at the meeting dealt with perspective directions of joint border control implementation at the Ukrainian-Polish border. The implemented pilot project on border registration of persons crossing the border on foot through "Uhryniv - Dolhobychuv" BCP using the existing infrastructure was positively estimated.

In the process of discussing the state of bilateral cooperation it was noted that it is developing in accordance with the earlier achieved agreements. Mutual activities on the personnel training remains one of the important directions in 2016.

The sides positively evaluated the project on joint border protection with the German Federal Police and the State Border Service of Lithuania which is aimed at improving the efficiency of detection of stolen vehicles.

The General Border Guard Proxies of Ukraine and Poland Viktor Nazarenko and Marek Lapinsky signed a protocol in the result of the meeting.