“A Voluntary Inspection”

Resolving border disputes with Romania can be a thankless business. At least, this is how it was in years past. Information wars and diplomatic strife invariably accompanied demarcation talks. Tensions in the relationship were partially eased last year with the ratification of the State Border Agreement. This is not the end of it, however. Still to come are hearings on the demarcation of the continental shelf and Black Sea exclusive maritime zones of Romania and Ukraine at the International Tribunal in The Hague. At the moment few are willing to predict who will win the litigation. Apparently, the hearings won’t start before 2006. Such indecisiveness is hardly conducive to developing contacts between the two countries. Will border issues continue to overshadow the cooperation between Kyiv and Bucharest in other spheres? Will our relationship benefit from the fact that an opposition candidate, Traian Basescu, who was also flying the orange colors just like his Ukrainian counterpart, has won the presidency? The Day asked Borys TREHUBOV, assistant to the chairman of the Ukrainian State Border Service, these and other questions.

“The stretch of Ukraine’s border with Romania is perhaps one of the most problematic. What is its current status? What problems have been resolved and what else remains to be done?”

“Starting in 1997 we worked painstakingly to draft the Agreement on the State Border between Ukraine and Romania. Last year the presidents of the two countries finally signed it. This has allowed us to reach a level of cooperation where it became necessary to inspect the state of the border between Ukraine and Romania. To this end, delegations from both sides have created a mixed cross-border commission. The Ukrainian-Romanian border has not been inspected in the last twenty years. A mixed Soviet-Romanian commission resolved border issues in the 1980s, but it never completed its mission because of the breakup of the USSR. None of the documents drafted by this commission were implemented either in Ukraine or Romania. In late November the mixed commission met for the first time. It has been charged with inspecting the state of the border and drafting new cross-border documents confirming the current border line. In the years when there were not inspections, changes have occurred in certain areas, especially along river sections of the border, which were affected by floodwaters. The mixed commission is supposed to agree on the current border line. We have been able to spell out future plans and determine the range of issues that should be resolved through our joint efforts. We have agreed on the organizational and technical documents to be prepared in order for this work to be conducted properly.”

“While the status of the land border is more or less clear, Kyiv and Bucharest have been unable to reach an understanding on the naval border.”

“As for the demarcation of the continental shelf and exclusive maritime zones in the Black Sea, the twenty-four rounds of talks have not produced a satisfactory result for either side. For this reason, as we know, Bucharest has decided to lodge an appeal with the International Tribunal in The Hague to resolve this dispute. So far we know that on November 19 the International Tribunal ordered Romania to submit by August 19 a memorandum on all issues relating to the demarcation of the continental shelf and exclusive economic zones in the Black Sea. Ukraine must submit a counter-memorandum no later than May 19, 2006. So, the time gap between the submission dates for the documents is nine months. In my view, it was wrong, of course, to continue talks that produced no results. That way we could have held talks for decades in a futile attempt to forge a compromise. Yet, now that we have reached a deadlock, it is quite logical to seek to resolve the problem using international approaches. In this case I mean the International Tribunal. The Border Service of Ukraine is prepared to do everything it takes, to the extent of its jurisdiction, for The Hague Tribunal to pass an adequate ruling in this case.”

“Many experts believe that even a final ruling by The Hague Tribunal will not offer a clear-cut solution, which means that Ukraine and Romania will have to return to the negotiating table. Doesn’t this mean that the hearings in The Hague are a waste of time and money?”

“We are not the first or the last to appeal to the Tribunal. That’s why the experts are not quite correct in this case.”

“Have you made any calculations as to how much time and money it will take?”

“I wouldn’t know about money; the Foreign Ministry is addressing this issue. As for time, the entire procedure might take three to four years.”

“The presidential elections have just ended in Romania, with the opposition coming to power. Can we assume the possibility of some shifts in the border talks in this connection?”

“During the first meeting of the mixed commission the Ukrainian delegation pointed out that the inspections of the state border should have no political implications. This is a pure technical issue, and no politics should be involved in it. Both countries have recognized the existing border, and now we only have to inspect it. Politics will not affect the border inspection process. I’m almost absolutely certain about this. Any attempts to raise issues unrelated to the commission’s task of inspecting the border line will be rejected.”

“After Ukraine began navigation in the deep-water canal on the Danube this past August, there were numerous reports about the alleged violation of Romania’s state border. Did such problems really occur, and what is the current situation around the canal?”

“In this situation it is our department’s task to protect the state border. The Romanian border guards have the same instructions. Thank God, by working in concert our departments have been able to reach an understanding and prevent conflicts. That is, everything has been resolved in a normal, civilized way. A special task force has been formed to coordinate this process. Headed by the Transport and Communications Ministry, it comprises representatives of the Foreign Ministry and the State Border Service. This task force is drafting proposals regarding the reconstruction of the canal in order to rule out any conflicts. So far we have had a normal relationship with the Romanian border guards. Chief of the State Border Service Mykola Lytvyn visited Bucharest last week, where he discussed issues relating to our cooperation.”