OSCE Mission to Skopje supports development of Border Police capabilities

The OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje has been assisting the authorities in improving border security standards for several years. Since the final transfer of control of the border from the Ministry of Defence to the MoI in August 2005, this assistance has increasingly focused on practical training and developing the capacity of the MoI's own training teams.

"Training is of course important, but the ability to train others is even more so if the process is to become self-sustaining," says Philip Tolson, Head of Mission's Police Development Unit. "It was therefore vital that the Border Police develop this capability."

Satisfying training needs

Together with officials from the MoI, the Mission's Border Police instructors evaluated the training needs and designed a variety of special courses for Border Police officers which took place at the Police Academy in Skopje last year.

"Many of us in the Border Police used to be in the army," says Slobodan Dimeski, Education Advisor from the Border Police Regional Centre South in Kavadarci, who served in the army for 13 years as a pilot.

"The training has helped me to adjust to my new duties, and to understand the specifics of border policing. Now I am helping to train my peers," adds Dimeski. He is now responsible for organizing and co-ordinating the training of his colleagues at a 228-km section of the border with Greece.

Each of the Border Police's four Regional Centres, which are located in Skopje, Delcevo, Kavadarci and Ohrid, also has its own training centre. These too have been modernized and re-equipped with the help of the OSCE Mission.

Donation of equipment

The equipment, worth 50,000 euros, includes laptops, computers, digital cameras and a laser simulator for shooting practice. It is used in the training facilities at the Regional Centres as well as at the Border Police Central Services in Skopje.

"Decentralizing training on operational matters increases efficiency and saves time, particularly for those who serve in remote areas. Border Police officers no longer need to travel to Skopje to learn something new," says the OSCE's Tolson.

"This equipment will help them to make correct decisions in accordance with the rules of police engagement and human rights principles," he adds.

Nikola Sanlevski is an experienced Border Police officer who is based at the Bitola border crossing with Greece. The border is very busy and not all travellers are who they seem, so Sanlevski conducts classes on identifying counterfeit documents.

The OSCE-donated equipment - a laptop and projector - makes his job easier, as well as more mobile, as he travels from post to post and trains his colleagues in the field.

On a big screen, Sanlevski shows his students a comparison of genuine and forged documents from different countries, so they can learn how to recognize doctored photos or manipulated stamps.

Study tour

Sharing best practices is another way of increasing professionalism. In February this year, a study tour to Slovenia was organized by the two Ministries of Interior and the Slovenian Embassy in Skopje, with the support of the Mission.

The participants learned how to handle illegal border crossings and organized crime, as well as studying European standards on integrated border management.

"It is important that we strengthen co-operation between our countries," commented Dragotin Mate, the Slovenian Minister of Interior. "We not only shared our experiences on meeting European standards, but we also expect to learn from our guests during future co-operation."

Bruno Hedermann, Border Police Instructor at the OSCE Mission, concludes: "We are pleased that the co-operation between the Border Police and the Mission will continue in 2007.

"This will include different types of capacity-building training, as well as training on combating trafficking in human beings and on identifying forged documents, which will be done jointly with the OSCE Action against Terrorism Unit in Vienna. The Mission will also continue advising field training officers, as well as supporting cross-border co-operation efforts by the authorities."