The European Union will take measures against the illegal arms trade in connection with the war in Ukraine.
Source: European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson
The European side considers the border between Ukraine and Moldova to be a possible gateway for the transportation of weapons, so they plan to create a hub there.
“By experience from the previous war in former Yugoslavia, we still have problems with firearms being trafficked from there to the organized criminal groups, feeding into violence in the criminal networks in the European Union,” Johansson said on arrival.
The commissioner said the hub will be a “one-stop-shop” allowing Europol to share information and for the EU’s border guard agency Frontex to support border management and detection of firearms trafficking. It will also aim to counter the traffic of human beings.
The interim head of Frontex, Aija Kalnaja, said Moldova was chosen for the hub “because this is where the trafficking of weapons can come mostly”.
