6 Oct 2008

Ukraine signs cross-border transport agreement

The Ukrainian Minister for Emergencies, Volodymyr Shandra, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the Facilitation of Vital Cross-Border Transport at NATO Headquarters on 6 October.

The multilateral agreement simplifies transit procedures for relief personnel and material between signatory countries. This improves the speed and efficiency of international humanitarian assistance in the case of terrorist attacks, and natural and man-made disasters.

Twenty-one countries have now signed the memorandum of understanding, which was developed by NATO's Senior Civil Emergency Planning Committee. It is open to signature by both NATO and Partner countries.

The other signatory countries are: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Lithuania, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia1, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

  1. Turkey recognizes the Republic of Macedonia with its constitutional name.