The participating Member States of Priority Area 11 of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region on their own national river sections completed 10 joint law enforcement operations between 2013 and 2023 after the implementation of the project “Setting up the Structure of a Danube River Forum” (DARIF Project).
The “DARIF 2024” Joint Operation was carried out as a multi-purpose operation, participating 9 Member States – Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Germany, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Ukraine – have performed their controls – according to their demands, their own risk assessment, current situation on the national Danube sections and reinforcement sources – choosing purposes and tasks from the list of the plan, and setting priorities.
Purposes of the operation were detection of facilitation of illegal immigration, trafficking in human beings, human smuggling, document forgery, actions against illegal immigration, detection of smuggling of drugs, cigarettes and other goods, implementation of general waterway law enforcement controls aboard ships and in the ports, detections of document forgery, seeking for wanted persons, increased controls on labour employment and on transport of dangerous goods and compliance with environmental regulations.
DARIF Member States have performed their operational activities in a synchronized way according to the locations and time period specified in their national plans during the 3 operational days on 10-11-12nd September 2024 focusing on the Main-Danube Canal, and key ports.
Participant authorities of the Member States – police forces (criminal- border- and water police) customs, disaster management organizations, human health and phytosanitary authorities, navigation (port) authorities and other cooperative bodies (for example: environmental protection and labour inspection) and other partners carried out controls on passenger cruise ships, and fright ships (including transport of dangerous goods), pleasure boats and each unloading ports.
