ArmenPress
March 14 2005
US EMBASSY TO ARMENIA GRANTS EIGHT VEHICLES TO ARMENIAN BORDER GUARDS
YEREVAN, MARCH 14, ARMENPRESS: “The Armenian Government has taken
on the challenge of securing its borders, and the U.S. Embassy is
proud to help with this important effort,” U.S. Deputy Chief of
Mission Anthony F. Godfrey said today at an official ceremony to mark
the U.S. Embassy’s (EXBS) Export Control and Related Border Security
Assistance Program grant of eight vehicles to the Armenia’s National
Security Service Border Guards. The vehicles include 3 NIVA’s, 2
LADA’s and 3 Specialized All-Terrain Vehicles (ATV’s) for off-road
patrolling. Border Guard Troop Commander Vjacheslav Voskanian also
participated in the ceremony at Border Guard Headquarters.
“EXBS is one of the most important assistance programs the U.S.
Embassy is involved in,” DCM Godfrey told journalists at the event,
“Stopping the proliferation of biological and chemical weapons
through proper boarder controls is very important to all countries,
and we are glad to see that Armenia has made it a high priority.”
Asked about assistance levels for this type of program in 2005,
DCM Godfrey responded, “This is not the first border and customs
grant we have undertaken, and it is certainly not the last. We have a
budget of $1.3 million for this year, which will go toward both
equipment transfer and training.”
The Export Control and Related Border Security Assistance Program,
administered by the Department of State and the U.S. Homeland
Security Agency, has been operating in Armenia since 2000. The
Program operates in more than 45 countries, and is designed to
strengthen and secure borders by providing the latest in interdiction
equipment, and by developing the enforcement skills of both the
Border Guards and Customs Service in the fight against worldwide
terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, and chemical and biological
warfare.
The EXBS Program for Armenia continues to conduct formal training
seminars both locally and in the United States in order to provide
Border Guards and Customs Inspectors with the advanced techniques of
investigation necessary to identify sophisticated nuclear, chemical
and biological weapons.
Over the last several years the EXBS Assistance Program has
equipped the Border Guards and Customs Services of Armenia with
various types of inspection and detection equipment: a
radio-communication system, several types of border sensors, metal
detectors, vehicles, computer equipment, cargo truck scales, and
X-ray units. Last year, the EXBS Assistance Program initiated several
construction projects to upgrade the Border Guards Port of Entry
checkpoint facility at Bagratashen, Border Guards barracks at the
Gogavan Port of Entry, and both Border Guard and Customs training
facilities in Yerevan.