Ukrainian and Slovak border guards discussed the ways to make a common border area more safe.

At the border crossing point of “Uzhgorod-Vyshnie-Niemetske” a meeting was held between the border guards of Ukraine and Slovakia.

The delegation of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine was headed by the First Deputy Head of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine Colonel Volodymyr Nikiforenko, and the Slovak delegation was headed by his counterpart Colonel Robert Hutskyi.

During the meeting, the parties discussed the situation at the common border area, which is almost 100 kilometers: more than 95km are land border and almost 2,5 km are river border.

Volodymyr Nikiforenko and Robert Gutsky noted that overall the situation at the common border remains controlled. By many indicators, there are positive trends.

At the same time, cigarettes remain the main contraband on the border with Slovakia. Also, violators are armed with aircraft. For example, this year at the border with Slovakia, Ukrainian law enforcers detained 4 unmanned aerial vehicles. The smugglers tried to use all these drones at the night time to transport cigarettes to Slovakia.

The parties discussed the measures being taken to combat smuggling by small and unmanned aerial vehicles, and agreed that they were efficient.

In general, the parties noted that cooperation between the border agencies of Ukraine and Slovakia is effective and ensures an appropriate level of common border securing. It was also noted the need for the data exchange, sharing of experience and improving the interaction of operational units.