The CEPOL Head of Operations, Ms Mailis Pukonen represented the agency on 7 September at the high-level online meeting on countering firearms trafficking in South-East Europe, organised by the European Commission, in close cooperation with the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the European External Action Service.
The objective of this high-level meeting was to further enhance regional cooperation to counteract the transnational dimension of illicit trafficking in firearms, while offering an opportunity to acknowledge the progress made, identify challenges that need to be jointly tackled, and exchange views on the way forward for the continued implementation of the Regional Roadmap for comprehensive Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) control in the Western Balkans.
On the occasion of the meeting, Ms Pukonen noted the contribution of the agency in the area of law enforcement training: ‘CEPOL offers a variety of tailor-made training activities on the topic of firearms trafficking*, so that law enforcement officials can enhance their knowledge and skills and stay up-to-date with the latest developments in the field’, and added: ‘Within the framework of the agency’s International cooperation projects, the Partnership against Crime and Terrorism project in the Western Balkans (WB PaCT) aims at enhancing the capacities of the authorities in the region to fight organised crime and terrorism, by enhancing cooperation within the region and with the EU’.
*More information regarding CEPOL’s training offer for 2021 can be found in our Training Catalogue.
Background info
On 24 July 2020, the European Commission adopted the EU action plan on firearms trafficking
, which includes a comprehensive set of concrete actions for close cooperation with South East Europe in this area. More here.
