30/10/2025

At the Police Academy Prvi hrvatski redarstvenik of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia in Zagreb, an international meeting of the holders and participants of the project Joint Efforts in Capacity Building: Border Protection with Respect for Human Rights was held over the past two days.

Since the Agency for Education and Professional Training (AEPTM) has also been participating in the implementation of this project for several years, the following representatives attended the meeting in Zagreb: Director Marko Vujević, Head of the Support Department Dunja Galić, Head of the Specialist Training Section Ivan Pinjuh, and Senior Adviser Neven Kajić.

The Prvi hrvatski redarstvenik Police Academy, in cooperation with the Federal Police Academy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Lübeck, has been successfully implementing advanced training programmes in the field of border protection since 2020, aimed at members of the border police from the Republic of Croatia and countries along the Western Balkan migration route (Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of North Macedonia, the Republic of Kosovo, and Montenegro).

As part of the project, in 2024 an additional training programme was introduced with the goal of equipping participants to transfer their knowledge and skills in the field of border protection to other colleagues in an appropriate and effective manner through national practical trainings.

“These meetings are not only an opportunity to exchange experiences, but also to define joint courses of action in a time marked by increasingly complex and dynamic security challenges, particularly along our borders,” said Josip Ćelić, Head of the Prvi hrvatski redarstvenik Police Academy, at the beginning of the meeting.

The purpose of the working meeting was precisely that: to summarise activities carried out so far within the project and to assess their impact in the participating countries on both the training of border police officers and their operational conduct, in accordance with best practices in border protection. The intention was also to evaluate the current and future needs of the participating countries for such or similar advanced training programmes, and to outline plans for the continuation of the project in the future, the Police Academy Prvi hrvatski redarstvenik reported.

“Such long-standing cooperation is the foundation of a strong network of experts who can face all challenges only by working together,” emphasised Mirjana Abramović, Deputy Head of the Prvi hrvatski redarstvenik Police Academy. Markus Fielke, Head of the Department for Specialist Training, agreed with her, highlighting that for the Federal Police Academy in Lübeck, this is one of the longest-running projects and that this continuity is crucial for achieving lasting results.

In that regard, one of the meeting’s conclusions was that joint work within the project should enable the development of standardised training programmes applicable in all member states, as well as the transfer of acquired knowledge to the national level and its integration into national curricula.

During the Zagreb meeting, new areas of cooperation were also discussed, including the introduction of a new training course within the project focused on preventing the misuse of travel documents. A draft training programme was presented, the ultimate goal of which is to create a regional network of document experts.

Based on the evaluation of previous training sessions and the exchange of experiences and ideas during the meeting, it was concluded that both training programmes should continue in the same format, with minor adjustments to better address the needs of the participating countries.

It was also emphasised that Croatian and German trainers should be included as mentors in the trainings that will be delivered in participating countries by newly trained instructors. This will ensure effective knowledge transfer, full achievement of the training objectives, and standardised procedures among police officers both within and outside the EU.

It should be noted that the project Joint Efforts in Capacity Building: Border Protection with Respect for Human Rights enjoys strong support from the Directorate of the Croatian Police, as highlighted during the meeting by Vlatka Vulić Petković, Head of the Service for International and European Strategic Cooperation.

“I would like to express my full support for this project and my firm belief that its results will have a long-term positive impact on security, professionalism, and mutual trust among our institutions. Your presence and contribution to this project once again confirm that, through joint efforts, we can build safer borders while fully respecting fundamental human rights,” said Vulić Petković on this occasion, according to the Prvi hrvatski redarstvenik Police Academy’s statement.