09 June 2009

Press conference on the occasion of the visit of Commander-in-Chief of the Border Guard of the Republic of Poland, Mr. Leszek Elas

International Organization for Migration (IOM), Mission in Ukraine has the honour to invite journalists to take part in the press conference on the occasion of the visit of Commander-in-Chief of the Border Guard of the Republic of Poland, Mr. Leszek Elas. The press conference will take place on June 18, 2009 at 9:30 in the building of the IOM Mission in Ukraine at address Mykhailivska St. 8 (conference room, 4th floor). Deadline for the accreditation is June 17 17:00 by tel. (80 50) 904 22 61 (contact person Slabinska Svitlana) or by email: pr@iom.kiev.ua.

Press conference will be attended by Commander-in-Chief of the Straż Graniczna – Border Guard of the Republic of Poland, Mr. Leszek Elas, IOM Chief of Mission in Ukraine, Jeffrey Labovitz and representatives of the State Border Guard Service (SBGS) of Ukraine and Ministry of Interior (MOI) of Ukraine. Conference participants will announce the results of trilateral cooperation between the Polish Border Guard, IOM Mission in Ukraine and State Border Guard Service of Ukraine as regards the implementation of six far-reaching projects within the framework of international technical cooperation.

In 2006, the IOM in Ukraine and Polish Border Guard started a close cooperation aimed at assisting the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine’s effort to transform itself by 2015 into a modern European Union/Schengen compliant law enforcement service.

Founding on good relations with Ukrainian government, the Border Guard of the Republic of Poland shares its experience and lay the foundation for joint work with Ministry of Interior of Ukraine.

Short Biography of commander Leszek Elas.

Decorated with Silver Cross for services, Silver Medal “For State Protection Services”, and Gold Medal “For Services for Straż Graniczna”.

Fifty two years old Leszek Elas is a lawyer by education and an author of numerous legal publications in specialized periodicals. After graduating from Gdansk University in 1984-1991 he remained in the university as a scientist at the Law and Administration Department and in 1996 he completed necessary training period for becoming a judge.

1991-2000 – employee of the Officer for State Security Service of Poland, initially in Gdansk, later in Warsaw.

From 1997 – Director of Investigation Unit of State Security Service of Poland.

2000-2002 – Director of Investigation Unit of the Border Guard Headquarters.

Later Mr. Leszek Elas worked in the telecommunications section providing security of information.

Facts about IOM:

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is an inter-governmental organization that promotes humane and rights-based approaches to Migration and Development, Facilitating and Regulating Migration and Countering Trafficking in Human Beings.

IOM was established in 1951 and today it includes 122 member states, 18 states with observer status, and over 400 field locations globally.

IOM Mission in Ukraine, a member state, started operations in 1996. In 2002 Parliament of Ukraine ratified the agreement on Ukraine’s participation in the International Organization for Migration.

For more detailed information about the conference, please contact IOM’s Public Information Unit (tel. (80 50) 904 22 61- Slabinska Svitlana or by e-mail: pr@iom.kiev.ua.