Oleksandr Turchynov: The launch of a comprehensive system for capturing biometric data is another step towards strengthening the country’s security
Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov together with Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov and the leadership of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine tested a comprehensive system for capturing biometric data at the checkpoint of the State Border Guard Service at the "Zhulyany" airport.
According to Mr. Turchynov, the State Border Guard Service, within the shortest possible time (four months) managed to implement the decision of the NSDC of Ukraine to strengthen control over the entry of foreigners and stateless persons into Ukraine, "first of all, this decision concerns citizens of the Russian Federation". "In most European countries, the implementation of such tasks was carried out within 4-5 years", - he added.
As Mr. Turchynov said, according to the NSDC decision, from 2018, citizens of the Russian Federation and other countries of migration risk must inform beforehand about their intention to enter Ukraine. "Moreover, - Secretary of the NSDC of Ukraine added, - the crossing of the border by these categories of citizens should be carried out with their biometric identification, and their place of residence should be recorded".
He stressed that for this purpose, from January 1, 2018, a national system of biometric verification and identification of foreigners and stateless persons, that meets the best European standards, should start functioning in Ukraine.
"These measures should significantly improve the security situation in the country", - the NSDC Secretary said noticing that the introduction of this system will also allow intensifying counter-intelligence activities and fighting against organized crime.
"Today, pursuant to the NSDC decision, at the "Zhulyany" airport, we are testing the first system for capturing biometric data of foreigners and stateless persons", - he said adding that the received information from the checkpoint will be transferred securely to the database of the national system of verification and identification of foreigners and stateless persons.
Secretary of the NSDC of Ukraine emphasized that 157 existing checkpoints are equipped with tools for reading information from biometric documents and fingerprints, "and 126 border crossing points are already directly connected to Interpol databases".
According to him, the systems for capturing biometric data will be operational from January 1 in capital airports and at border checkpoints with the Russian Federation. Answering the question, Secretary of the NSDC of Ukraine pointed out that from next year such a system will work, in particular, at checkpoints to the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea.
"The launch of a comprehensive system for capturing biometric data is another step towards alleviating the security situation and improving the border control system", - Oleksandr Turchynov summarized.