European Union

EUROPEAN UNION AMBASSADOR TO VISIT DOG TRAINING CENTRE IN SMORGON'.

On Friday 22 January, the Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine and Belarus, Ambassador José Manuel Pinto Teixeira will visit the Dog Training Centre of the State Border Guard Service in Smorgon'.

Ambassador Pinto Teixeira's visit takes place on the occasion of the centre's hosting on an international seminar, "Development and Perspectives for co-operation by dog training centres of border guard services of the CIS and the European Union". Participants from Belarus, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland will take part in the seminar.

Border management has been an important element of EU co-operation with Belarus and will continue to play a significant role as one of the flagship initiatives of the Eastern Partnership.

The EU-financed BOMBEL-1 and BOMBEL-2 projects (Enhancing Border Management in the Republic of Belarus), aimed to assist the Border Guards of the Republic of Belarus to combat trans-border organised crime, establish and apply modern border control systems, manage migration flows, use modern communications equipment, means of automation, border and radiation monitoring, and increase regional cooperation.

The projects included a component related to the development of the Dog Training Centre in Smorgon'. This component developed the infrastructure of the centre and increased the number of service dogs provided for the Border Guards, improved their gene pool and housing conditions and raised the quality of their training.

Members of the media may attend the opening ceremony of the international seminar from 10 am upon registration with the Press Centre of the State Border Guards Committee of the Republic of Belarus on +375 17 287 06 55 (Head of the Press Center Mr Aleksandr Vladimirovich Tishchenko).