Meeting on Policing and Police Cooperation in South Eastern
Europe: Chairman's Summary
More than 40 participants representing ministries of the interior
and police forces of the countries of the region, as well as international
experts, attended the meeting, which was arranged by Working Table
III of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe and sponsored
by the Government of Norway. The meeting was chaired by Ambassador
Kim Traavik, Chairman of Working Table III, and co-chaired by
Mr. Thierry le Roy, Chairman of the Sub-Table on Justice and Home
Affairs. Dr. Bisera Turkovic, Minister for European Integration,
made an opening statement on behalf of the host country. The Chairman
thanked Minister Turkovic for the splendid facilities made available
for the meeting.
Participants expressed the view that holding a meeting of this
kind was a positive initiative that responded to a real need on
the part of law enforcement agencies of the region. There was
a general feeling that international organized crime is on the
rise in South Eastern Europe and that criminal groups are cooperating
ever more closely.
Many participants made the point that police challenges facing
the region, such as illegal migration, trafficking in human beings,
fraud and economic crime, as well as trafficking in arms and illicit
substances, are directly related to similar problems in Western
Europe, and that for this reason the countries of the region and
the wider international community have a shared interest in the
fight against organised crime in SEE.
Reference was made in this regard to the importance of JHA as
well as police reform and regional police cooperation as key elements
of the stabilisation and association processes of the European
Union. Hence, the point was made that that cooperation on police
issues and the fight against organized crime is directly linked
to the European perspective of the countries of the region, as
reaffirmed in the Declaration of the Zagreb Summit.
The point was also made by many participants that the fight against
organized crime must be based on a partnership between the countries
of the region and the wider international community, above all
the EU. At the same time the point was widely emphasized that
there has to be strong local ownership to the process of building
police cooperation and networking in South Eastern Europe. In
this regard reference was also made to the Stability Pact Organized
Crime Initiaitive adopted at the October 4-5, 2000
Meeting of Working Table III..
There was a unanimous view that closer cooperation between police
forces and law enforcement agencies in the region is urgently
called for at all levels; bilaterally, between entities inside
states, and particularly in the wider regional context.
Reference was made in this regard to the possibility of entering
into bilateral agreements on police cooperation. The importance
of contacts on police matters at the political level was underlined
by many participants. In this context reference was made to the
upcoming meeting between the Croatian minister of internal affairs
and the ministers of the interior of the Federation and the Republika
Srpska, Bosnia and Hercegovina.
All the countries of the region expressed their support for and
commitment to strengthened support between police forces and law
enforcement agencies of the region. There was a broadly held view
that immediate and concrete measures to that end are required
and that the time had come to proceed from talking about to implementing
police cooperation and networking.
The point was made by many participants that use should be made
of existing facilities, for exampel those of Interpol. The representative
of Interpol indicated that his organization would be ready to
consider this possibility, for example in the area of technical
facilities for exchange of information. Accounts were given of
the the capacities of the Association of European Police Colleges
( AEPC ) and of the existing networking system in the EU.
Reference was made to the increasing problem of illegal migration
to Western Europe through Bosnia and Hercegovina. The point was
made that the newly established State Border Service of Bosnia
and Hercegovina has the potential to become an important instrument
in the efforts to get to grips with this growing problem, but
that funding problems were hampering its further development.
Through the Chairman of Working Table III, the representatives
of Bosnia and Hercegovina urged members of the donor community
to support the SBS economically. The Chairman took note of this
appeal, and encouraged Bosnia and Hercegovina to submit a detailed
project proposal that could be brought to the attention of donors
in due course.
It was generally recognized that regional police training is an
important requirement in its own right, but that above all it
constitutes a key instrument for fostering police cooperation
and network building.
There was broad appreciation of a study carried out by the Norwegian
Institute of International Affairs ( NUPI ) on behalf of Working
Table III of the Stability Pact and distributed at the meeting.
The recommendations contained in the study were widely supported.
There was a widely shared view that a regional training facility
should at least in the initial stage be a roaming as opposed to
a fixed institution. Similarly, there was a widely held view that
due emphasis should be placed on the concept of training the trainers.
Several participants referred to the need for depoliticizing police
forces and a redefinition of the role of the police in society,
on the basis of the rule of law.
There was, finally, broad support for the recommendation that
a Working Group consisting of representatives of the countries
of the region, international experts, and possibly representatives
of the donor community, be established in order to follow up on
the NUPI study. The aim would be to come up in the near future
with a specific and concrete report with a view to getting training
activities underway as soon as possible. Norway in its national
capacity pledged to support this process economically. The Chairman
indicated that he would seek to enlist the support of other members
of the donor community with a view to securing additional funding.
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