Field Office Kotovsk

Have you ever been at a border where there are no partners on the other side? Where all the vehicles and trains and people are setting off like Christopher Columbus into what you do not know what it is? So the experts of Field Office Kotovsk have feelings a little bit just like the king of the renaissance Spain sending cargoes and travellers into ... This is the very first feature of the area of responsibility of FOKO which you get to feel.

Respect is due to FOKO experts who are able to achieve success under such conditions. During Phase 8, thanks to patient talks with Ukrainian partners, the area of risk analysis was openly discussed. The number of pieces of advice given increased significantly when compared to previous periods, most of them received with full appreciation. The heads and officers of border units at key working locations became close and willing partners and the discussions themselves became more open, friendly, substantial, and professional.

Sometimes you don’t necessarily need to give specific advice; it is sufficient to make a friendly remark. On one occasion at a BCP experts suggested to our customs partners that they should ask their superiors to be provided with protecting gloves to carry out examinations. “We will try to help you in that matter”, the experts said. It was really pleasant to see the customs shift leader two days later proudly present a new set of disposable gloves just arrived. A small success only? By creating many of them we can build a better future which is our main concern here.

And what about the noticeable improvement of inter-agency cooperation of border guards with other services, expanding even beyond the usual relations to the customs and involving local police and self-administration as well? Or what about children of English-language classes in Kotovsk schools who were genuinely delighted by the experts giving their perspectives on Europe on the occasion of Europe Day? Is it still a small success only?

These results show that field office members are definitely integrated and tuned in to each other. We also enjoy our free time in Kotovsk; from the earliest warm days of spring we enjoy picnics at the lake near Kotovsk with “shashlik” and sport activities as well. We also find time for some team bonding, like when we went skiing to the Carpathian Mountains last March. 

So we have no reason to complain, not even for the far distances we have to cover every day along our extensive, 400km border section from Velyka Kisnytsya in the north to Hrebenyky in the south. Happy to serve and deliver!