News

As part of EUBAM Rafah's dedication to promoting gender mainstreaming in its activities with the General Administration for Borders and Crossings and its commitment to empowering GABC female staff members with both the knowledge and skills that will enable them to take on higher level leadership positions; the Mission concluded a series of trainings on Project Cycle Management and Project Design on Wednesday 3 November 2021 in Jericho.

Aimed at enhancing the Palestinian General Administration for Borders and Crossings (GABC) knowledge on cultural heritage and the European Union best practices, EUBAM Rafah facilitated a three-day information session on the “Protection of Cultural Heritage”. The training which took place between 20 and 24 October 2021 was organized by EUBAM Rafah and conducted by two trainers from the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage; known as Carabinieri T.P.C, in the framework of the Italian Training Mission MIADIT Palestine.

Aimed at enhancing skills on efficient border checks, the European Union Border Assistance Mission conducted a three day training on “X-Ray Imagery Interpretation”. The three day training held on 21-23 June 2021 at GABC Training Center in Jericho was the first training to be held following the strict measures enforced due to the pandemic.

On Tuesday, 22 June 2021 The Italian Consul General in Jerusalem Mr. Giuseppe Fedele together with Lieutenant Colonel Stefano Nencioni from the Italian Carabinieri, currently working as the liaison officer for “Missione Addestrativa Italiana” which translates as the Italian Training Mission visited the EUBAM Rafah Premises in Tel Aviv. 

On 9 March 2021, the Head of the European Union Border Assistance Mission Florin Bulgariu met with the Egyptian Ambassador to Ramallah Tarek Tayel. 

On International Women’s Day, EUBAM Rafah reaffirms its commitment to the empowerment of women working under the umbrella of the General Administration for Borders and Crossings on all border-related matters including but not limited to leadership, decision-making and operations. This comes as part of the Mission’s efforts to promote gender equality and support women in their race for further social, economic and political achievements. 

Florin Bulgariu, recently appointed Head of Mission at EUBAM Rafah, was present when the Mission was first deployed at the Rafah Crossing Point in Gaza in November 2005. Working as a border expert, he was part of the first group of Europeans posted to help with the process of building border capacity between Gaza and Egypt to facilitate free movement of people and goods across the border.

At a meeting of the Political and Security Committee of the Council of the European Union, Florin Bulgariu was appointed Head of EUBAM Rafah, effective 1 November 2020. 

Mr. Bulgariu is a high ranking police officer (Colonel) with more than 25 years of professional experience. He is thoroughly specialized in conducting border operations on both the operational and strategic levels and is fully acquainted with all the EU mechanisms related to border operations including Schengen aquis and asylum granting procedures. ​

The Council decided to extend the mandates until 30 June 2021 of three of its Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) civilian missions: the European Border Assistance Mission in Libya (EUBAM Libya), the European Border Assistance Mission in the Rafah Crossing Point (EUBAM Rafah), and the European Police Mission for the Palestinian Territories (EUPOL COPPS).

Antonella Di Sandri, from Italy’s northeast, was appointed as a Senior Customs Officer in the city of Udine in 1999, and for the past two decades has worked on customs issues in her home country as well as EU-funded projects in the Balkans. Since July 2017, she has been seconded by the Italian authorities as a Border Customs Expert at EUBAM Rafah to support capacity building in the Palestinian General Administration for Borders and Crossings (GABC).