EU enhances border control capacities of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine

On 22 February 2023, the EU Support to Strengthening IBM in Ukraine (EU4IBM) project trained State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (SBGS) officers on the use of mobile mini-scanners for the inspection of light vehicles in order to prevent smuggling of illicit objects, including small arms and drugs. 12 scanners for non-destructive inspection of objects, worth EUR 420,000, were procured and delivered to Ukraine a week earlier.

The EU4IBM project is implemented by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development and funded by the European Union, to enhance border management and control capacities of SBGS.

The supply of handheld backscatter X-Ray imagers will allow SBGS to perform control in a more effective way with the aim of fighting conventional smuggling, as well as smuggling of weapons which has become a non-negligible risk at wartime.

“The EU urgent support to Ukrainian border guards helps protect lives, ensure the agency’s resilience in the face of the Russian aggression, and increase SBGS capacity to perform more efficient border controls. With this concrete delivery, we are helping Ukraine fight against smuggling and traffic of arms at its borders with the EU. Better controls and higher security also have strategic long-term importance in the context of the EU pre-accession process of Ukraine,” stated Xavier Camus, Head of the Good Governance and Democratisation Section at the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine.

The delivery of the second batch of mini-scanners worth more than EUR 700,000 within the framework of the newly launched ‘EU Support to Strengthening IBM in Ukraine – Resilience’ project is planned for March 2023. Combined with deliveries of other control and surveillance means as well as soft measures planned in parallel, the project will support trade facilitation, prevention of corruption, physical and psychological rehabilitation of service persons, as well as legal approximation and strategic planning in the area of integrated border management.

Background information:

The project “EU Support to Strengthening Integrated Border Management in Ukraine (EU4IBM)” funded by the EU and carried out by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD). It supports the implementation of the reforms approximating the border management system of Ukraine to the EU standards and best practices in line with the Integrated Border Management Strategy of Ukraine adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers on 24 July 2019. The project runs from December 2019 until March 2023.

For additional information, please contact Ihor Serheiev via Ihor.Serheiev@icmpd.org.