EUROFRONT: European cooperation in the tri-border area between Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina

To consolidate partnerships with Paraguay and analyze its security and development challenges. With this objective, the head of the European Commission’s Directorate General for International Partnerships, Jorge de la Caballería, together with representatives of the EUROFRONT program, visited Ciudad del Este.

The visit was also attended by representatives of the government of Paraguay and the Delegation of the European Union in this country. The delegation visited the International Bridge of Friendship, a crossing point located between Ciudad del Este (Paraguay) and Foz de Iguazú (Brazil), in the so-called triple border that also borders Argentina.

The visit made it possible to identify opportunities and challenges of the EUROFRONT program in the country, and particularly in the Tri-Border area, in relation to its two main lines of action: integrated border management and the prevention and fight against the trafficking and smuggling of migrants.

The close link between these two areas, security and respect for human rights, was one of the main conclusions drawn by De la Caballería, who stressed the importance of collaboration between nations and cooperation agencies to achieve common goals: “the more networks for sharing information, the better the results”.

For his part, the European Union’s ambassador in the country, Javier García de Viedma, took stock of the regional situation: “we are facing global problems,” such as cross-border crime, “whose responses must be comprehensive,” such as those proposed by EUROFRONT.

EUROFRONT from the Europe-Paraguay points of view

During the tour on the bridge linking Ciudad del Este with Foz do Iguaçu, De la Caballería reaffirmed EUROFRONT’s approach: “This program is based on our European experience that has worked for us within our borders and is what we can offer: good practices and moving forward on the path of cooperation.”

“We are working articulately with EUROFRONT to face the problems that afflict the region, particularly on this border, always articulating with the different institutions and security agencies to adjust and create new control systems for the early detection of human trafficking,” explained Favio Espinoza, director of Migratory Movement of the DGM.

The meetings held have allowed to show the cooperation and joint articulation of EUROFRONT, a program led by FIIAPP together with IOM and IILA, with the government of Paraguay.