In August 2008 the border agency of the Republic of Moldova and Frontex Agency concluded a Working Arrangement which launched official cooperation between the institutions.
In March 2009 the Cooperation Plan between Border Guard Service (current Border Police) and Frontex was signed, providing a set of measures oriented towards capacity building of the Moldovan border agency. Border Police officers were enabled to perform data exchange, and had the opportunity to participate in several pilot projects and operational measures conducted by Frontex, and also in different trainings on risk analysis, detection of forged travel documents, detection of stolen cars, EU relevant standards, dog-handling, etc.
Within annual bilateral talks with Frontex held at the end of 2009, future cooperation priorities were identified to ensure establishment of a long-lasting partnership.
In December 2011, Moldovan Border Police and Frontex Agency signed a Cooperation Plan for 2012-2014 which provides cooperation basing on 5 pillars:
- Exchange of information/relevant situational products/alerts
- Intelligence and risk analysis
- Joint projects and operations
- Professional training
- Research and development
By Order No. 141 of the Head of the Border Police Department, the National Frontex Point of Contact (NFPOC) was set up within BPD being responsible for coordinating and implementing the Cooperation Plan concluded with Frontex.
During 2011-2013 BP officers participated in several joint operations with Frontex, including in Moldovan Frontex Coordination Points. It is to be mentioned that Moldova is the only third country which established 2 Coordination Points. At the same time, over 60 BP officers were trained on risk analysis, documents’ expertise, and joint operations organization under the aegis of Frontex.
Border Police and Frontex are continuously cooperating on development, especially with regards to surveillance equipment and relevant automated systems for integrated border management. Moreover, BP officers are involved in activities for implementing the EUROSUR concept.