OSCE Project Co-ordinator assists reform of Ukraine's State Border Guard Service

KYIV, 19 February 2009 - The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine (PCU) today handed over computers, software and furniture to equip 23 recently upgraded risk and criminal analysis units of the Ukraine's State Border Guard Service.

The equipment donation is part of an OSCE PCU-supported project to assist the Ukrainian Border Guard Service in modernizing its risk and criminal analysis systems as it transforms from a military structure to a law-enforcement agency.

The OSCE PCU, in co-operation with Polish Border Guard, will also help train Ukrainian border guard officers in criminal analysis, and internationally selected trainers will instruct 86 officers in risk analysis.

"The donation of equipment and training for border guard officers will contribute to the overall strengthening of the Ukrainian border, which in the past five years has become a gateway to the EU for many migrants and travelers from the east," said Lubomir Kopaj, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine.

Mykola Lytvyn, the Chairman of the State Border Guard Service, said the creation of new risk and criminal analysis units marks a new approach for border security in Ukraine.

"The work of these units will strengthen our capacities in terms of combating illegal migration, human trafficking and smuggling across the Ukrainian border into western Europe," he said.

The assistance to Ukraine's border service is implemented with support from the United States government and in co-ordination with the EU Commission Delegation, the European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine, and the International Organization for Migration.