Thursday

28th Mar 2024

Open border with Ukraine is crime threat, France warns

  • Over 4 million people have entered EU (Photo: Chris McGrath)
Listen to article

Foreign mobsters, illicit weapons, and drugs could enter the EU on the back of the Ukraine war posing a threat to law and order in the bloc.

"The heads of criminal organisations could take advantage of the situation to enter the Schengen area [an EU passport-free travel zone]," the French EU presidency warned in a memo last Thursday (31 March).

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

"The war is conducive to the circulation of weapons, some of which could enter the European Union to be used for criminal purposes," the French threat assessment said.

The infiltrators could include "terrorists, who may use falsified identity documents," it said.

"There is a risk that the flow of drugs to the EU will increase via Ukraine," it added, noting that "Ukraine is a country with a high incidence of heroin use (the third most prevalent drug)" and "a transit country for heroin from Afghanistan and for heroin substitutes".

"Belarus, which has in the past threatened to suspend measures to combat drug trafficking to the EU, and Russia are also transit countries for Afghan drugs (heroin, opium and even methamphetamine) and for the production of synthetic drugs," the French memo also said.

The fears arose after 4 million people, mostly women and children, entered the EU from Ukraine in the past six weeks — an exodus of historic proportions which dwarfs the migration crisis of 2015, when 1 million people came, and which has left European authorities struggling to ID and register all those coming in.

Those most at risk of a related crime wave were Ukrainians, especially Ukrainian minors and war-orphans who were in danger of sexual exploitation or forced labour in Europe.

Europol, the joint EU police agency, sent eight officers to Slovakia, two to Poland, two to Moldova, and one to Romania in March to gather information on the criminal activity.

Frontex, the EU's border control agency, has also sent 285 officers to the region to better control who is coming in.

EU police forces plan to do joint operations to catch crooks and to share information on the developments.

And the EU Commission is putting up €499m to help member states pay "for the protection and surveillance of external borders," from its ​​so-called Border Management and Visa Instrument, another French EU presidency memo, dated 25 March, said.

Meanwhile, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Slovakia have seen a spike in malicious attacks on digital infrastructure since the Russian invasion, France said.

But "it is not yet possible to establish a causal link between the war in Ukraine and these attacks," France added.

The war was also likely to increase cigarette smuggling and trafficking in false documents, see the rise of new exfiltration networks for Ukrainian men refusing general mobilisation, and increase demand for money-laundering, France said.

"Online fraud schemes (fraudulent e-mail and calls for donations)," were an associated problem, it said.

Opinion

Le Pen's new EU rhetoric masks same old ideas

Le Pen has switched from talk of Frexit to talk of primacy of French law — but her softer language masks just as hard an attack on the EU project as ever.

Opinion

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Latest News

  1. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  2. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  3. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult
  4. EU unveils plan to create a European cross-border degree
  5. How migrants risk becoming drug addicts along Balkan route
  6. 2024: A Space Odyssey — why the galaxy needs regulating
  7. Syrian mayor in Germany speaks out against AfD
  8. Asian workers pay price for EU ship recycling

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us