Third meeting of the Stability Pact Working Group on Regional Civilian Police Training in South Eastern Europe: Charimen's Conclusions

The third meeting of the Stability Pact Working Group on Regional Civilian Police Training in South Eastern Europe gathered 24 representatives from ministries of the interior, police academies and police services in the region as well as international experts and representatives from the donor community. The meeting was opened by the Director of the Bulgarian National Police, General Vassil Vasselev, who both underlined the importance of the initiative which the Working Group (WG) deals with, and emphasised Bulgaria's effort to support the activities of the WG.

The Co-chair informed the WG about the last Stability Pact Working Table III meeting in Zagreb on 12-13 June and especially about the conclusions related to the activities of the WG. The representatives took notice of the fact that the WT III meeting endorsed all the recommendations which the WG presented at its second meeting in Belgrade.

The representative from the training provider, the Association of European Police Colleges (AEPC), informed about the preparations for this year's two training courses. The first course, on how to fight Trafficking in human beings, will be held in Croatia on 19-23 November. The preparatory meeting for this course will be held in Rotterdam on 10 September, with trainers from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. The WG supported the Co-chair's suggestion that due to time constraints also the second course on how to fight Illegal Migration should be held in Croatia. Based on recommendations from the training provider the WG advised that this course take place on 26-30 November. The preparatory meeting for the course will take place in Rotterdam on 24 September, and the training will be provided by trainers from Germany and Austria.

While the representative from Interpol offered that if required Interpol may assist in identifying training resources, the representative of the Stability Pact Secretariat emphasised the importance of coordinating future training activities with relevant countries and organisations. Reference was made to a meeting in Vienna on 20 September which will be hosted by the Stability Pact Task Force on Trafficking in Human Beings together with the Co-ordinator of SEE. The intention behind this meeting is to avoid possible duplication of effort and to facilitate possible co-operation between different agencies involved in training activities aimed at countering human trafficking.

The WG discussed in depth the Letter of intent which has been drafted by the training provider and distributed prior to this meeting. This document is to serve as the contract between the training provider and the countries providing the trainees. Having made some corrections in the draft document, the WG decided that the Letter of intent should be sent either from the Special Co-ordinator of the Stability Pact or the Chairman of Working Table III to the Ministries of Interior in the region as soon as possible. When the Letter of intent has been signed it should be returned not later than 1 October.

The WG also emphasised the importance of nominating national contact persons as soon as possible. These contact persons, who should speak English and be directly accessible both by phone and by e-mail or telefax, will be responsible for supporting the training provider on a variety of issues related to the training activities. The name and coordinates of the national contact person should also be included in the signed Letter of intent.

The final date for nominating candidates for this year's training courses should be 22 October.

The WG also dicussed how the language diversities should be dealt with during the training courses. With reference to the courses that will be conducted this year, it was decided firstly that Croatia will support simultaneous interpretation into Croatian, and secondly that the countries requiring additional interpretation should bring their own interpreters.

In the discussions about next year' training activities the WG agreed that the first course on the agenda should focus on how to fight Trafficking in drugs, to be held tentatively during the end of February. The second course should be about Police Management, and take place tentatively during March. The locations of the courses will be decided on later, however several representatives from the region clearly indicated that their respective countries would be willing to host the courses.

With reference to the discussions at the last Working Table III meeting, the Co-chair raised the issue of conducting a training course on how to fight Trafficking in small arms and light weapons. The WG advised the course provider and the co-chairs to explore the possibilities of arranging such a course, and, if possible, of conducting that course next year in addition to the training courses that have already been decided on.

The Co-chairs and the representative from the Stability Pact Secretariat informed the WG about the preparations for the Stability Pact funding meeting in Bucharest on 25 October. The Stability Pact Regional Police Training Initiative will be one of several Stability Pact initiatives that will be presented at that meeting with a view to attracting future donors.

The WG concluded the meeting by deciding that the fourth meeting of the WG will take place in the second half of January 2002. This will make the WG able to evaluate the training courses held in Croatia before the third course takes place - preferably in February. The venue of the meeting will have to be decided on later. However, several countries did indicate an interest to host the next meeting.