19th Advisory Board Meeting (ABM) of the European Union Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine (EUBAM) has been held today, 22 November, in Odesa. Ambassador of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Ian Tombinsky chaired the meeting. The Ambassador noted the achievements of the Mission and its Moldovan and Ukrainian partners, and said EUBAM carries out as the important regional player.

At the meeting of the Advisory Board, the EU mission presented a detailed report on its activities for six months to its main partners ― the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Moldova and Ukraine, border and customs agencies of both countries, as well as international partners, including the EU Delegation to Moldova and Ukraine, the UN Development Programme and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Ian Tombinsky called his presidency at a meeting of the Advisory Board as a “good experience” and reminded participants that “conformance to EU standards is a fundamental task”. He also stressed that the work of EUBAM “shows mutually beneficial relations between the EU, Ukraine and Moldova”.

Advisory Board noted EUBAM’s achievements in all fields, including the increasing of institutional potential of partner services, the partners support in preparation for Euro 2012, EUBAM role in improving relations between the customs representatives of Chisinau and Tiraspol after the resumption of freight rail traffic through Transnistria, as well as central role of the Mission in the creation co-managed checkpoint “Rosoșani ― Briceni”.

Head of the EUBAM Udo Burkholder said partner services can count on a long-term commitment of EUBAM in helping to improve standards of governance of the Moldovan-Ukrainian border.

“We are quite an ambitious mission, and the higher our achievements, the higher the expectations. But we strive for meet those expectations”, Udo Burkholder noted.