OSCE Mission hosts first regional conference on police education and training in Belgrade

BELGRADE, 15 November 2005 - Evaluating current police education and identifying additional joint police training programmes were the aims of the first Regional Conference on Police Training, organized by the OSCE Mission to Serbia and Montenegro, which ended today in Belgrade.

More than 50 experts from the interior ministries of 13 countries in South-eastern Europe attended the two-day conference, which was also supported by Council of Europe Belgrade Office, and reconfirmed their commitment to continued co-operation.

"Developing training initiatives on a regional basis is crucial in order to maximize scarce resources and broadly share the knowledge available", said Douglas Wake, Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia and Montenegro.

Participants explored ideas for improving professional networking between educators from the various services represented.

Several joint regional police training initiatives are in place in the Balkan region, especially in the fields of border policing and the fight against organized crime.