OSCE Presence in Albania organizes regional meeting in support of police canine units in Western Balkans

From 22 to 24 February 2023, the OSCE Presence in Albania hosted a regional expert meeting on advancing the regulatory framework of police canine units, in Korça. The event brought together representatives of such units from Tirana, Sarajevo, Podgorica, Belgrade, Skopje, Pristina, and canine experts from France and the United Kingdom.

The regional meeting aimed to intensify regional co-operation, transfer of knowledge and skills, and improve co-ordination actions amongst canine units benefiting from the OSCE assistance projects. It was organized as part of the project “Assisting the national authorities of the Republic of Albania to decrease the risk of weapon proliferation and misuse of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW)”, with the support of the OSCE Secretariat’s Forum for Security Co-operation Unit, and in co-ordination with OSCE SALW projects implemented in Western Balkan.

“The significance of this event is to provide targeted support to Western Balkans authorities in advancing their professional development, improvement of proficiency, deployment and overall capability of their canine units in detecting unauthorized use, transport and trafficking of SALW, ammunition and explosives,” said Slobodan Boskovic, Project Officer at the Forum for Security Co-operation Support Unit.

Participants discussed draft Standard Operating Procedures for the Albanian State Police Canine Training Institute developed under the auspices of the OSCE Presence’s SALW project. The document - designed to provide specific guidelines for dog handlers, instructors, and managers – was developed based on the relevant regional good practice and suitable international standards.

In addition, the participants discussed national and regional skills and proficiency criteria for competitions that will be organized by authorities of each jurisdiction of the region and will be supported through the OSCE projects. The event also served as a platform of networking among the public officials and canine experts, considering the similarities and challenges in all the Western Balkans jurisdictions.

“Such meetings are highly valuable, not only to exchange knowledge, experiences and challenges between regional homologues, but also to discuss on potential unified solutions in terms of processes and best practices for the improvement and development of Police Canine Units,” said Petrit Bushati, Head of the Breeding and Training Section at the Albanian State Police Canine Training Institute.

Xhenis Ballco, SALW National Project Officer at the OSCE Presence in Albania, said: “The SALW project will further assist the Albanian State Police Canine Training Institute to upgrade the infrastructure of the facilities and the existing surrounding areas. Moreover, it will purchase and deliver specialized vehicles and equipment for canine deployment and will provide ongoing accredited capacity building for its officials.”

“Assisting the national authorities of the Republic of Albania to decrease the risk of weapon proliferation and misuse of Small Arms and Light Weapons” project is funded by the European Union, the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of France.