Romanian Border Police

Structure

Since 2001 multiple restructures and improvements occurred in order to align the service to the European counterparts. Currently it is composed of the Border Police General Inspectorate which is the central structure, subordinated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, while the second tier is composed of the 5 Territorial Inspectorates (Giurgiu, Timișoara, Oradea, Sighetu Marmației, Iași) and the Coast Guard. The latter was formed in 2011 when the County Inspectorates of Constanța and Tulcea were reorganized into the newly formed Coast Guard.

Ranks

The Border Police uses the same ranking system as the Romanian Police, with different colors. (see Romanian Police)

Before 2002, the Border Police had military status and a military ranking system, within the Ministry of Internal Affairs (see Romanian Armed Forces ranks and insignia). In June 2002 it became a civilian police force, together with the National Police (the first police service in Eastern Europe to do so) and its personnel was structured into two corps:

• Corpul ofițerilor de poliție (Police Officers Corps) - corresponding to the commissioned ranks of a military force, to the ranks of Inspector, Superintendent and Commissioner in a British-style police force or to the both Corps de conception et de direction and Corps de commande et d'encadrement in the French National Police (Police Nationale).

• Corpul agenților de poliție (Police Agents Corps) - corresponding to the non-commissioned ranks of a military force, to the Corps de maîtrise et d'application in the French National Police or to the ranks of Constable or Sergeant in a British-style police force.

Equipment

Fleet

Current fleet

• 1 OPV 950 class: 950 tons built by Damen Group, at the Galați Shipyard.
  • MAI 0201 Ștefan cel Mare (ex MAI 1105)
• 2 FCS 4008 class: 300 tons built by Damen Group, at the Damen Shipyards Antalya
  • MAI 1106, 1107
• 4 Neustadt class patrol boat: 218 tons ex-German Federal Border Guard, built by Lürssen shipyard in Bremen-Vegesack, Germany.
  • MAI 1101, 1102, 1103, 1104 (ex BG-12 Bad Bramstedt, BG-15 Eschwege, BG-16 Alsfeld, BG-17 Bayreuth)
• 2 Bigliani class patrol boat: 90 tons ex-Guardia di Finanza, built by Intermarine, Italy.
  • MAI 2113, 2114 (ex G.80 Bigliani, G.81 Cavaglià)
• 3 Shaldag Mk IV class patrol boat: 72 tons built by Israel Shipyards in Haifa, Israel.
  • MAI 2110, 2111, 2112

• 5 Patrol 1850 boat: 30 tons built by Kewatec Finland.
  • MAI 3063, 3064, 3065, 3066, 3067
• 5 SNR-17 class patrol boat: 25 tons built by Istanbul Shipyard, Turkey.
  • MAI 3057, 3058, 3059, 3060, 3061
• various small coastal and riverine vessels, hovercraft, pontoons, etc.

Historic ships

• VG-10 class patrol boat: built by Șantierul Naval Brăila (now part of STX Europe) between 1953 and 1954.

UAVs

• Schiebel Camcopter S-100 - made available by the European Maritime Safety Agency - EMSA

Future prospects

On March 10, 2021, a contract was signed for Damen Group to supply the border police with two FCS 4008 Patrol boats. They will replace some of the ageing Neustadt Class boats, vessels which were built during 1969-1970 for the German Federal Border Guard, the first one being bought by the Romanian Border Police in 2002 and the other 3 in 2005. Previous attempts to replace them have failed, mainly because of lack of funding.

References

References

1. link. (2017-01-24 OSCE entry on Romanian Border Police)
2. Frontiera, Politia de. "Organizare - Politia de Frontiera".
3. Frontiera, Politia de. "Structuri subordonate - Main {{!}} Politia de Frontiera".
4. "Proiectul de lege privind înființarea Gărzii de Coastă, aprobat de Executiv – MINISTERUL AFACERILOR INTERNE".
5. Lege 360/2002]
6. [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/europe/mai-stefan-cel-mare.htm GlobalSecurity.org]
7. "Offshore Patrol Vessel 950 "Stefan cel Mare - MAI 1105"". Damen.
8. (22 August 2022). "Romanian Border Police receives its first Damen FCS 4008 Patrol vessel".
9. (19 January 2023). "Componenta navală a Poliției de Frontieră Române a fost suplimentată cu două mijloace de mobilitate navală".
10. (2 October 2011). "Romanian SNR 17 class fluvial patrol boats".
11. [http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=1944039 SHIPSPOTTING.com]
12. (2021-04-06). "România și-a cumpărat o dronă de mari dimensiuni pentru supravegherea frontierei maritime". CT100.ro.
13. (2021-03-10). "Două nave vor intra în dotarea Poliției de Frontieră Române".