BREST, 10 October (BelTA) – A solemn ceremony to hand over border-guarding vehicles and equipment purchased at the expense of the European Union will take place in Pinsk, Brest Oblast on 13 October, the press service of the State Border Committee of Belarus told BelTA.
The equipment and vehicles will be handed over as part of the international technical aid project implemented by the International Organization for Migration and financed by the European Union for the sake of improving the security of the green and water border between Belarus and Ukraine. The Pinsk border service unit, which is in charge of protecting part of the Belarusian-Ukrainian border, will receive the new vehicles and equipment this time.
The handover ceremony will take place in Pinsk's central square. An exhibition will be arranged to demonstrate all kinds of off-road vehicles, high-speed motor boats, alarm solutions that the local border service unit will get. Some of the special hardware will be demonstrated live. In particular, patrol boats will travel along the Pina River in a demonstration run.
Representatives of the border services of Belarus and Ukraine, the representative office of the European Union in Belarus, the International Organization for Migration, other international organizations, diplomatic missions, and government agencies will attend the ceremony.
The international technical aid project is formally known as “Strengthening surveillance and bilateral coordination capacity along the common border between Belarus and Ukraine” (SURCAP Phase II). The acquisition and handover of the vehicles and equipment is but one facet of the project. Apart from that, representatives of the Belarusian border service are expected to visit European Union countries to study the best border-guarding practices. Educational seminars will be arranged to look at various aspects of integrated border management. A pilot contact point Pinsk-Zhitomir will be established as well. The project's budget for both sides stands at €5.3 million.
