Today, May 12, the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs had a working meeting with the European High Commissioner for Internal Affairs, Ylva Johansson.
The dignitaries discussed the creation of an innovative European mechanism, which would intervene in an integrated manner in case of major crises, starting from the challenges, risks and threats generated by the war in Ukraine. The experience of this crisis has shown that the current collaboration formats provided by international conventions, agreements and treaties do not provide for rapid mechanisms regarding police and judicial cooperation, as well as increasing resilience in the fight against transnational crimes, similar to the EU intervention for crisis management, which takes into account the civil protection mechanism.
The officials recognized that it is an optimal format for discussing the technical issues in order to operationalize such a mechanism of European intervention and on the non-European space, in the Republic of Moldova, to intervene promptly in crisis situations similar to the war in Ukraine and in countries which are not yet EU members.
“We dare to propose to Commissioner Johansson, in her mission to develop a new EU internal security strategy, to include Moldova under the EU’s security umbrella, as a safety belt for the entire European space, as a first redoubt of defense , even if Moldova is not yet an EU state. Commissioner Johanson has a difficult task in these times, so we wish him, through his intelligence and determination, to innovate mechanisms of intervention in times of war, when threats are diverse and so aggressive, so that defense efforts can be appropriate”, said Ana Revenco.
At the same time, it was noted the need to strengthen the capacities of the MAI subdivisions that are on the front line, in order to increase the level of security both at the border and on the territory of the country. In this context, the minister thanked the EU commissioner for the help he provided in concluding the Cooperation Agreement between the Republic of Moldova and the European Border Police and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex). The conclusion of this Cooperation Agreement determined the increase of resilience in the defense of the state border, ensured by the Border Police of the Republic of Moldova.
“I appreciate the way the Ministry of Internal Affairs is handling the refugee crisis. The cooperation agreement between the Republic of Moldova and Frontex was prepared and signed in record time, and in this short time, the representatives of the Frontex agency managed to form a very good team with the Border Police of the Republic of Moldova, and this is a model of cooperation. Today we discussed ways to deepen and expand our security collaboration. In the same way, we analyzed the possibility of creating a cooperation platform between the European Commission, the member countries and the Republic of Moldova for the prevention of cross-border crimes. I am looking forward to expanding our collaboration”, Ylva Johansson noted.
Likewise, during the meeting, the minister requested support on the technology and digitization side, by offering high-performance communication, monitoring and analysis equipment.
We note that, since the beginning of the mandate, the Border Police together with the Frontex representatives have participated in several operations, in which about 2000 incidents were recorded at the border, including collection of false documents, seizures of drugs, attempts to cross the border illegally .
Ylva Johansson also mentioned that human trafficking increases during times of war, that is why the EU is making additional efforts to prevent this phenomenon, by creating a working group within Europol, as well as creating a 10-step action plan within the Platform for Solidarity, of which the Republic of Moldova will also be a part.
