The European Parliament adopted by 543 votes to 34, with 10 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Moldova on operational activities carried out by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency in the Republic of Moldova.

Parliament gave its consent to the conclusion of the agreement.

As of 11 March 2022, over 310 000 refugees had entered the Republic of Moldova from Ukraine following the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. In just the first two weeks of the war, more than two million refugees – around 4% of Ukraine’s population – mainly fled westward from the encroaching Russian forces.

Moldovan border management authorities are thus now facing the twin challenges of regulating the influx and subsequent outflow of potentially hundreds of thousands of refugees, including monitoring the smuggling of weapons. Furthermore, some 12% of the territory of the country is not under the control of Moldovan authorities, including a large portion of Moldova’s border with Ukraine.

On 14 March 2022, the Council adopted a decision authorising the opening of negotiations on an agreement between the European Union and Moldova as regards actions by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency on the territory of Moldova. On 17 March 2021, on the basis of a written procedure, delegations confirmed their agreement on the proposal for a Council Decision on the signature of the Status Agreement with Moldova. The Agreement was signed the same day, subject to its conclusion at a later date.

The aim of the agreement is to allow the European Border and Coast Guard Agency to deploy border management teams from the permanent contingent to Moldova. The agreement regulates all aspects necessary for the deployment of the Border Management Teams from the European Border and Coast Guard Standing Corps in the Republic of Moldova, where the members of the teams may exercise executive powers.

A status agreement will allow Frontex to assist Moldova in border management, by deploying teams capable of assisting the Moldovan authorities in tasks such as registration and border checks.