Moldova and Romania signed an intergovernmental agreement on coordinated control at the Leuseni-Albita international automobile checkpoint.
The document was signed on Thursday by the Interior Ministers of Moldova and Romania Ana Revenco and Lucian Bode. As the head of the Moldovan Ministry of Internal Affairs noted, the agreement will facilitate the crossing of the state border at the Leuseni-Albita checkpoint, and the waiting time at the checkpoint will be reduced due to the joint Moldovan-Romanian control on the “one stop” principle. In addition, it will contribute to ensuring the security of the border between Moldova and Romania, ensuring national security, preventing cross-border organized crime and combating terrorism, money laundering, etc. The agreement provides that control activities at the Leuseni-Albita checkpoint will be carried out in a coordinated manner, on the Romanian side, at the entrance to the territory of Romania, with the participation of Moldovan representatives and in accordance with national legislation. This coordinated control will be carried out in a pilot mode, but in the future it is possible to expand it to all joint checkpoints of the two countries. The agreement was signed for 6 months with the possibility of extension every next six months. According to Bode, the agreement will enter into force after it is approved by the Moldovan government and published in the official documents of the two countries. In general, the agreement will increase the efficiency and speed of the work of civil services at the border, improve the ability to detect cross-border crimes, and will also help bring the regulatory framework of Moldova in line with European legislation and other international acts. Bode emphasized the relevance of this decision in the context of the war in Ukraine. According to him, before the start of the war in Ukraine, about 5 million crossings were registered on the Moldovan-Romanian border. However, in 2022, a record was registered - 9.2 million people crossed 6 Moldovan-Romanian checkpoints, of which 40% used the Leuseni-Albita checkpoint. Since the beginning of the war, 3.5 million citizens of Ukraine have crossed the Romanian border, 650 thousand of them through checkpoints located on the border with Moldova. Bode also noted that this is not the only area of cooperation between the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Moldova and Romania. Currently, the parties are implementing joint projects funded by the EU (about 45 million euros). Right now, a project is being implemented in Iasi to train Moldovan and Romanian rescuers with a budget of 4 million euros. Also the day before, the Romanian government regulated the creation of a new checkpoint on the border with Moldova - Bumbata-Leova.// 09.02.2023 — InfoMarket.
