OSCE Mobile Training Team conducts course on identifying foreign terrorist fighters for border and security officers in Skopje

From 3 to 5 July 2018, the OSCE Mobile Training Team delivered in Skopje an interactive course on identifying foreign terrorist fighters for country’s 24 border and security services officers.

The deployment of the Training Team, the seventh of its kind, was organized by the Border Security and Management Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department, with the support of the OSCE Mission to Skopje and in close co-operation with the country’s Border Police.

International, regional and national legal frameworks, the effective use of Interpol databases, risk analysis and management in the identification of potential foreign terrorist fighters at borders in compliance with international human rights standards, were the main focus of the training course.

“In a time where terrorist attacks present a global threat, no country is immune, in particular countries along the Western Balkan migration route,” said Goran Stojkovski, OSCE Border Security and Management Unit Customs Advisor. “It is of utmost importance to find common mechanisms, respectful of human rights, to deal with threats posed by foreign terrorist fighters, especially at borders, as they represent the first line of protection of each country”.

The importance of risk analysis models applied to identify potential foreign terrorist fighters at the borders as well as background, trends and current cases were discussed during the course. Participants also engaged in practical exercises on the detection of forged documents and impostors as well as in interactive exercises to deepen their understanding of behavioral indicators of foreign terrorist fighters.

The Mobile Training Team members from the host country, Romania and Austria as well as experts from INTERPOL, OSCE and the United States of America delivered a training and shared their knowledge and expertise in the identification of foreign terrorist fighters at the borders.

The OSCE Mobile Training Team was established by the Border Security and Management Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department in 2016. It is composed of 17 selected border and counter-terrorism experts from OSCE participating States and Partners for Co-operation.