BISHKEK, 11 February 2011 - A five-day OSCE workshop that fostered cross-border co-operation between the Kyrgyzstan’s and Tajikistan’s border troops concluded in Bishkek today.

Senior border officers from the two countries took part in the workshop, which was organized jointly by the OSCE Centre in Bishkek and the OSCE Office in Tajikistan.

"This workshop was very timely because of increasing concerns about the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan being porous and vulnerable. The workshop significantly reinforced the existing day-to-day co-operation between the two countries’ border officials in their joint efforts to ease legal cross-border movement and counter transnational crime,” said Ambassador Andrew Tesoriere, Head of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek.

Ambassador Ivar Vikki, Head of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan, added that similar workshops had successfully been held in Dushanbe for border agencies from Tajikistan and Afghanistan, and said that “these workshops represent a very good example of how OSCE field operations can assist in strengthening cross-border co-operation in Central Asia".

During the workshop, the participants studied the border delegate cooperation model which is succesfully used by border agencies in many OSCE participating States. The agenda also included lectures and group exercises on topics such as joint investigations, risk analysis, joint operations and exercises, information exchange and joint annual work plans.

Three experts from the Finnish Border Guard and the Russian Border Service led the workshop and shared their countries' experience in cross-border co-operation. The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Bishkek offered a session on asylum seekers and refugees in the context of cross-border co-operation.