“Dacia 2008”, a ten-day-long exercise of Rapid Border Intervention Teams (RABIT) concluded today. Coordinated by Frontex, it was carried out on the border between Romania and Moldova.
The primary aim of the exercise was to test the management of the RABIT Teams deployment mechanism providing assistance to Member States faced with “urgent and exceptional situations” such as arrivals of a large number of third-country nationals trying to enter their territory illegally.
A total of 49 RABITs - border guards from 23 EU Member States and Schengen Associated Countries - were involved in the exercise. The list includes Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Spain, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia.
Rapid Border Intervention Teams were created on the basis of EC Regulation 863/2007. The RAPID Pool currently comprises 629 border policemen from all EU Member States including Iceland and Norway (with the exception of Ireland and UK).
Two previous exercises took place respectively at Francisco Sa Caneiro Airport in Portugal and on the land border between Slovenia and Croatia.