ODESA, NOVEMBER 30th, 2012, CONTEXT-PRICHERNOMORIE ― The European Union Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM) to Moldova and Ukraine has opened a photography exhibition “Dogs: Service and Friendship” today at the Odesa Literature Museum, Context-Prichernomorie correspondent reports.

The press service of the Mission reported today, 30 November.

According to the press service, the exhibition will show off over 100 of the best entries for the “Dogs on the Border” photography competition, for which EUBAM received over 300 submissions. EUBAM is launching the exhibition to mark its 7th anniversary ― it began its technical-advice work on the Moldova-Ukraine border on 30 November, 2005.

“We believe that a fitting way to celebrate EUBAM’s birthday is by saluting man’s best friend ― dogs. Dogs are a huge part of our personal lives, but also play a crucial role in security on the border,” said EUBAM’s Deputy Head of Mission, Mr Slawomir Pichor.

“Effective border management depends on trust between different parties, and the dogs who work with the border guard and customs services demonstrate that sense of trust and loyalty perfectly.”

EUBAM divided the competition into two broad categories: service ― to show the key role played by dogs in the work of border guards and customs officers ― and friendship, illustrating the central part dogs play in people’s everyday lives. As well as awarding winners in both those categories, the competition also had an overall “grandprix” winner ― Mr Aleksandr Sinelnikov took that prize with his image, “Fidelity”.

The exhibition at the Odessa Literature Museum (2 Lanzheronovskaya str.) is open to the public until Thursday 12 December.