On 31 May 2024, the Steering Group meeting from the project SCOP 3.1 took place online. The purpose of the event was to report on the project progress so far, as well as to inform the stakeholders about the remaining activities before its completion.
The event gathered management-level representatives from the main stakeholders – the Moldovan Border Police as the key beneficiary, the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic in their capacity of donor, and the project management team from ICMPD as implementing partner. In addition, representatives of the Moldovan Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Chisinau attended the meeting.
At the event, the project implementation team presented the progress regarding the procurement of various equipment envisaged in the project for the Moldovan Border Police. Regarding the accompanying capacity-building component, the project team informed about the successful completion of the Border Assessment Report, as well as the subsequent series of five regional workshops on hosting evaluation missions in line with EU’s SchEval Mechanism.
During discussions, participants exchanged positive feedback on the project's progress. The Border Assessment Report has been especially welcomed by the donor as a most up-to-date source for informing its future assistance packages. Along the same lines, a one-month project no-cost extension has been announced with the view to channel some accrued savings towards supporting the new Advanced Passenger Information (API) function in Moldova.
The project “Support to the Complex Improvement of Migration and Border Management in Moldova” (SCOP) aims to help Moldovan authorities with the consolidation of migration and border management system in line with the EU Acquis. The objective of its Component 3.1. "Strengthening Border Police operational capacities for border security" is to contribute to Moldovan Border Police’s resilience and capacities, including effective management of the state border and timely and adequate response to crisis situations. The action is implemented by ICMPD and is funded by the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic.