On November 15th, 2023, a videoconference meeting took place between Cătălin Predoiu, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs, and Mr. Ihor Klymenko, Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs.
On this occasion, the two ministers discussed the priorities in bilateral cooperation in the field of internal affairs, with an emphasis on preventing and combating cross-border crime. The dignitaries welcomed the decision to raise the bilateral relationship to the level of Strategic Partnership, which confirmed the very good level of Romanian-Ukrainian relations.
The discussions are a continuation of those agreed during the first joint meeting of the Governments of Romania and Ukraine that took place in Kyiv on October 18th, 2023, to deepen sectorial collaboration.
One of the topics addressed was that of streamlining traffic on the Romanian-Ukrainian border, the interlocutors agreeing that both states are currently undertaking substantial efforts to develop cross-border infrastructure and to open new border crossing points, in accordance with Schengen standards. In addition, the parties pay special attention to securing the border, the openness and mutual support in the operative cooperation between the border structures being appreciated, as well as the need to strengthen their capabilities.
Minister Predoiu emphasized the importance of a constructive and open dialogue between the two ministries, necessary to identify effective solutions in areas of mutual interest. In this context, the Romanian side reiterated its openness to the development of the legal framework for cooperation in the field of disaster prevention and liquidation.
At the same time, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, together with the other government authorities, will continue to provide support to Ukraine, in the context of the war of aggression launched by the Russian Federation, as long as this will be necessary.
Also on this occasion, the Romanian official reiterated Romania’s firm commitment to supporting Ukraine’s European path and the readiness of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to be actively involved in supporting the efforts.
For his part, Minister Klymenko thanked the Romanian side authority for the constant and multidimensional support provided by Romania since the first day of the war and for the steadfast support within the multilateral discussion formats.
„We have in progress a series cooperation and support actions of the Ukrainian authorities in the field of the legal competence of the MAI. We carry out border protection and control through joint Romanian-Ukrainian patrols. We control very well the situation regarding arms and drug trafficking. We practically do not have structured trafficking of weapons, people and drugs through the land border with Ukraine, beyond certain isolated cases detected, which is a sign of the dissuasive nature and effectiveness of the measures taken and of the field efforts of the Romanian and Ukrainian border police officers, to whom I thank. There is still room for higher performance in combating the trafficking and smuggling of excise duty goods, especially cigarettes. We have supported and will continue to support the training of Ukrainian personnel in the field of civil assistance and disaster response. Police cooperation in combating organized crime is also going very well and we will continue it. I respectfully received the thanks addressed by my colleague, the Ukrainian Minister of the Interior, Ihor Klymenko, for all the support actions carried out by the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Ukraine. They are part of Romania’s general effort to support Ukraine. I believe that we have a common future in Europe, it is important to think about it and build it from today, for the benefit of our citizens, including our minorities, the Ukrainian one in Romania and the Romanian one in Ukraine”, declared Minister Cătălin Predoiu at the end the meeting.
