There are still large quantities of weapons stored improperly in the Western Balkans due to the conflicts in the 1990s. These weapons often end up in the hands of criminal gangs, which resell them through established trafficking routes into the EU countries. Increasingly pressing problem is the acquisition and use of these weapons by terrorist groups and related extremist movements.
At the meeting of interior ministers within the Brdo process in 2013 special attention was devoted to the issue of the illegal arms trade and the need to strengthen cooperation in this area, since this issue is also relevant for the EU integration process of the Western Balkans countries. Ministers agreed that a unified response in dealing with the illegal arms trade is crucial in the fight against organized crime groups. They stressed the need to examine the idea of setting up a network of experts on weapons. They committed themselves to seek funding opportunities for joint projects, aimed at strengthening operational cooperation of law enforcement agencies in this field.
Centre for European Perspective is organizing a regional training from 10 to 14 November 2014 in Montenegro for the representatives of criminal police of all Western Balkans countries. Through this initiative, Slovenia confirms its commitment to support this aim. Slovenia is a country with Schengen border and plays an important role at preventing the entry of illegal weapons into the Schengen area. Slovenian initiative is also very important in terms of boosting mutual trust between the criminal police representatives of the Western Balkans and the EU, with the aim of achieving better communication and better cooperation. Representatives of criminal police of Slovenia and Croatia are sharing their expertise, together with representatives of Europol and the Faculty of Social Sciences. Regional training will contribute to better operational cooperation between among criminal police in the region, since the training is attended by the heads of departments and operative officers from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Kosovo.
REGIONALNO USPOSABLJANJE ZA DRŽAVE ZAHODNEGA BALKANA NA PODROČJU BOJA ZOPER NEDOVOLJENO TRGOVINO Z OROŽJEM
Na Zahodnem Balkanu po končanih konfliktih v 90ih letih še vedno ostajajo velike količine neprimerno skladiščenega orožja. To orožje pogosto konča v rokah kriminalnih združb, ki ga po ustaljenih tihotapskih poteh preprodajajo v države EU. Vedno bolj pereč problem je nakup in uporaba tega orožja s strani terorističnih skupin in sorodnih ekstremističnih gibanj.
Posebna pozornost srečanja notranjih ministrov v okviru Brdo procesa leta 2013 je bila posvečena problematiki trgovine z orožjem in potrebi po krepitvi sodelovanja na tem področju, saj tudi to sodi v okvir hitrejšega približevanja držav v EU. Ministri so se strinjali, da je pri spopadanju z nezakonito trgovino z orožjem ključen skupen, predvsem pa enoten odziv na področju boja proti organiziranim kriminalnim združbam, ter poudarili nujnost preučitve ideje o vzpostavitvi mreže strokovnjakov za orožje. Zavezali so se, da bodo države iskale možnosti financiranja skupnih projektov, namenjenih krepitvi operativnega sodelovanja organov odkrivanja in pregona.
Center za evropsko prihodnost med 10. in 14. novembrom 2014 v Črni Gori organizira usposabljanje za predstavnike kriminalističnih policij držav Zahodnega Balkana. S tem Slovenija potrjuje svojo zavezo k reševanju navedene tematike, saj ima kot država s schengensko mejo na tem področju pomembno vlogo preprečevanja vstopa ilegalnega orožja v schengensko območje. Slovenska iniciativa je zelo pomembna tudi z vidika povečanja zaupanja med kriminalističnimi policijami Zahodnega Balkana in EU, s ciljem boljše izmenjave informacij in boljšega sodelovanja. Kot eksperti v usposabljanju sodelujejo predstavniki kriminalistične policije Slovenije in Hrvaške, Europola ter Fakultete za družbene vede. Skupno regionalno usposabljanje bo prispevalo k boljšemu operativnemu sodelovanju med kriminalističnimi policijami v regiji, saj se ga udeležujejo vodje oddelkov in operativci iz Albanije, Bosne in Hercegovine, Srbije, Hrvaške, Črne Gore, Makedonije in Kosova.