Denys Monastyrskiy held a telephone conversation with the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson
During the conversation, which took place today, on November 16, the Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs discussed interaction in the context of the aggravation of the situation at the EU borders.
According to Denys Monastyrskiy, Ukraine is interested in expanding cooperation with the EU to jointly combat hybrid threats.
“We consider the situation on the Belarusian-Polish border in the context of the Kremlin's strategy to weaken the European Union”, - the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine noted.
Denys Monastyrskiy noted that an assessment of the events on the border of Baltic States and the Republic of Poland with the Republic of Belarus gives a reason to predict a possible escalation of the situation and an increase in illegal migration on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border. In this regard, Ukraine is strengthening its border protection.
The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine drew the attention of European partners to the advisability of using the second phase of the project "EU Support to Strengthen Integrated Border Management in Ukraine (EU4IBM)" in order to equip the Ukrainian-Belarusian section of the border and improve the material and technical base of border guards to effectively counter illegal migration and trafficking of smuggled goods.
For reference
The project "EU Support to Strengthen Integrated Border Management in Ukraine (EU4IBM)" is funded by the European Union and implemented by the International Center for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD). It aims to support the implementation of reforms that bring the Ukrainian border management system closer to the standards and best practices of the European Union within the framework of the Strategy for Integrated Border Management of Ukraine. The project is being implemented from December 2019 to June 2022.
