Opinion & Interviews

Citizens need to hold power to account because ‘even an angel can turn into the devil’

July 02, 2020

Since 2007, Oleksandra Matviychuk has been Head of the Board of the Centre for Civil Liberties, a human rights NGO whose activities include the OZON volunteer movement to monitor law enforcement institutions.

Protecting the border during Covid-19: EUAM advisor and SBGS Head reflect

June 04, 2020

There is nobody untouched by Covid-19 or the restrictions imposed by it. Among those who needed to adapt quickly were the border guard services around Europe. Here we ask Marta Zarecka, Head of the Border and Customs Unit at the EU Advisory Mission Ukraine (EUAM), and Serhiy Deineko, Head of State Border Guard Service of […]

La Strada Ukraine: domestic violence is more than ‘just a quarrel between two people’

June 01, 2020

For the past 23 years, the La Strada-Ukraine NGO hotline has been assisting and counselling victims from gender-based violence and domestic violence in Ukraine.

Domestic violence under quarantine: police trying to ‘help those who cannot report their cases’

May 08, 2020

In Ukraine and around the world, more and more data suggests that domestic abuse might be increasing with the COVID-19 quarantine.

NPU: ‘We all are in an equal situation facing this common threat’

April 22, 2020

After a specific request from the Human Rights Compliance Department of National Police of Ukraine, three international advisors from the European Union Advisory Mission (EUAM) hosted a webinar last week.

Police and citizens need to join forces to find solutions that last

April 09, 2020

EUAM’s Senior Advisor on General Policing, Klaas-Jan Van der Wulp has adjusted quickly to advising Ukraine’s law-enforcement institutions from his home in the Netherlands

EUAM statement on prosecutorial reform

March 04, 2020

European Union Advisory Mission (EUAM) has been actively supporting the reform of the Office of the Prosecutor General and considers that the ongoing reform under the leadership of the current Prosecutor General, Ruslan Ryaboshapka, is one of the most comprehensive and meaningful reform efforts in the civilian security sector in years.

‘If you put the wrong person in prison it is not correct’

December 20, 2019

Last week, Kharkiv’s Regional Administrative Court held an ‘open court’ week, during which local school children had a chance to visit the court, speak to judges and learn about the functions of the court.

Tetiana Kovalchuk: mentoring programme ‘gave me ability to reveal my vulnerability’

December 06, 2019

One year ago, the EU Advisory Mission and the Folke Bernadotte Academy teamed up to deliver a Skype-based one-on-one High Level Mentoring Programme on Gender Responsive Leadership to Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Tetiana Kovalchuk. Last week in Kyiv, Tetiana met her mentor, Dr Leslie Groves Williams (FBA), in person for the first time. […]

Ukraine’s IBM Strategy: proper implementation will be true measure of success

October 23, 2019

Over the 14 years I have been coming and going from Ukraine, I probably pay more attention than most to border crossing. That is partly due to the roles I have held for European Union border assistance programmes in Ukraine, and because I started my professional career as a border guard in Finland. I was […]

Hate crime: a headache for law enforcement in Ukraine and Sweden alike

September 17, 2019

Helena Lundgren is a EUAM Senior Advisor on Prosecution, based at the mission’s Lviv Field Office, and last week she led a training programme for Ukrainian police officers and prosecutors on ‘hate crime’. Here, Helena elaborates on the characteristics of hate crime, and how the authorities in her native country, Sweden, have dealt with the […]

CivOps Commander: missions are ‘one of the most effective instruments of EU foreign policy’

August 06, 2019

During a visit to Kyiv to meet with EUAM staff and the new EUAM Head of Mission last week, the EU’s Civilian Operations Commander, Vincenzo Coppola – who guides the work of 10 civilian missions in Europe, the Middle East and Africa – took time to share a few thoughts after almost one year in […]

Ukraine’s parliamentary elections: EUAM advisors hopeful of a repeat success as citizens go to polls

July 17, 2019

Ukraine successfully organised two rounds of a presidential election on 31 March and 21 April and is currently preparing for parliamentary elections on 21 July. The EU Advisory Mission Ukraine (EUAM), along with other international donors, has been asked by its Ukrainian partners for support in order to protect the integrity of this year’s elections […]

The role of Information Technology (IT) in reforming Ukraine’s Civilian Security Sector

June 25, 2019

As part of its support to Ukraine’s civilian security sector institutions, EUAM offers strategic advice and practical support in Information (Digital) Technology (IT). IT has a considerable impact on the efficiency of the law enforcement and judicial system and therefore the security of citizens. The European Union is a major international donor in Ukraine, with […]

Kestutis Lancinskas: National Police fares well while SBU still unreformed

May 31, 2019

The outgoing head of the European Union Advisory Mission to Ukraine, Kestutis Lancinskas, has told the Kyiv Post in his final interview that he is generally happy with the law enforcement reforms he intensively consulted on through the last three years. A former senior cop in Lithuania, he gave Ukraine’s reforms a 7 out of 10 […]