Ukrainian border guards participate in study visit to Spain, focus on passport security and forgery detection

Senior officers from Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service participated in a study visit to Madrid, Spain, from 4 to 7 November 2024. The study visit was organized by the OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department, in close co-operation with the Spanish National Police, for fourteen representatives - including seven women and seven men. The visit focused on national travel documents, including how Spain issues and prints their national passports, methods of detecting forgeries at their borders, digital identity, and methods of risk analysis to identify trends in use of forged travel documents.

The delegation explored how Spain manages its national travel documents, with insights into the issuance and printing processes of Spanish passports. They also learned methods for detecting forged documents at border checkpoints, explored the growing use of digital identity, and examined analytical approaches to identify trends in document fraud.

The four-day visit featured a visit to the National Coordination Center for Border Posts (CEFRONT) where participants gained an understanding of the center's organizational structure and unit coordination, and discussed some key lessons learned on co-ordination of border crossing points. The group of visiting border guards also received an overview of the risk analysis strategies and methodology used by the Spanish National Police to counter irregular migration and use of forged travel documents.

The Ukrainian officers visited several critical sites, including the Documentation Division, where they observed the passport issuance process in real-time, as well as the operations of Mobile Documentation Units. The delegation also toured Spain’s National Mint and Stamp Factory, Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre (FNMT), where Spanish passports and other secure documents are produced.

The study visit concluded with a comprehensive tour of Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD), one of Europe's busiest airports. Here, the Ukrainian officers had the opportunity to observe the airport’s border control operations, focusing on first- and second-line document checks, automated e-gates, and staffing considerations. The practices they observed at MAD are expected to inform Ukraine's preparations for the eventual return of civil aviation to Ukraine’s skies.

The study visit was held in close co-operation with the Permanent Mission of Spain to the OSCE and the Spanish National Police. It was the last part of the 2024 training cycle for the fourteen border guards, who had previously completed an OSCE Training of Trainers course in August 2024.

These study and training activities are part of an ongoing project supporting OSCE participating States and Partners for Co-operation in reducing the illegal crossing of borders by using a fake or stolen identity. This project is generously funded by the United States.