The first CEPOL Conference with Russia took place on 17-19 June 2009. Hosted by the German Police University in Münster, this pilot activity attracted 34 participants - including 24 participants from 17 Member States and a participant from Europol - directly involved in international police cooperation in senior police training.
The aim of the conference was to strengthen cooperation between CEPOL and Russia with particular emphasis on developing training visions of future forms of police cooperation between the EU and Russia.
Other themes presented included: the investigation of crimes which have an effect on more than one jurisdiction and state (Joint Investigation Teams); development of an international strategy in fighting cross-border crime; the Russian Organised Crime Threat Assessment (ROCTA) presented by Europol; aspects of combating illegal migration; fighting illicit drug trafficking; and police public relations work during police operations.
The Head of Management Academy at the Ministry of the Interior in Russia, Head of Russian Immigration Service and a representative of the Research Institute of the Russian Ministry of the Interior were just three of the ten attendees from Russia.
The interest in maintaining relations between the Russian Federation and CEPOL in the future was clearly expressed by the Russian delegation. They underlined their interest in attending future similar activities with CEPOL.
Wolfgang Häseker, Conference Organiser, said: “Running a preparatory meeting for this activity with all partners and in good time was very fruitful and should be maintained for future activities. The Head of the Human Resources department at the Russian Ministry of Interior also took part in the preparatory meeting which stresses the importance the Russian delegation attached to it. The head of the Human Resources department prepared a report of the outcomes of the conference to the Minister of the Interior upon his return to Russia.”
The conference was supported by Finland and Slovenia with contributions from Europol and Russia.
CEPOL plans to organise a similar activity in the 2010 Annual Programme.
