26. 9. 2023 | Development (ODA), Macedonia - Finance, PR, Regional cooperation
We’re always happy to welcome guests at our beautiful castle, and today we were able to host not only one but two delegations working towards the same goal – preparing their countries to join the European Union in the shortest and fastest manner.
Mr Zurab Khamashuridze, Director, Department of European Integration, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was heading the delegation of the Parliament of Georgia, which is a national coordinating body for all activities related to the process of EU integration. The discussion evolved around CEP experiences with candidate countries and 12 priorities set by the European Commission to be addressed by Georgian authorities before being granted candidate status. Building on good past cooperation on the digital diplomacy program, it was agreed that we can upgrade our relationships and provide concrete support in priorities linked to the rule of law, anti-corruption measures, and involvement of civil society in decision-making processes, to name a few.
State Secretary from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of North Macedonia, Mr Filip Toseski, attended bilateral consultations with his Slovenian counterparts and paid a visit to CEP. As this was his first visit to Slovenia, we presented the four pillars that CEP is working on, and we were happy to learn that he has already heard about interesting and useful CEP training courses. Topics of concrete Slovenian support to North Macedonia were discussed, not forgetting to praise the already established good cooperation between the Specialized State Prosecution Office, the Financial Police and the Customs Administration from both countries in the framework of bilateral cooperation on financial investigations supported by Slovenian Aid.
It was agreed that Slovenia has valuable expertise that can be utilised by North Macedonian colleagues to accelerate their way towards full membership of the European Union.
15. 9. 2023 | EUCTI, POTC, PR
Centre for European Perspective has been a member of the European and Security Colleague (ESDC) for several years but has only this week attended its first Executive Academic Board. It took place on Tuesday, 12 September and brought together members of over 70 training institutions. They discussed several important documents, including Academic Programme 2023-2024, received updates on recent activities and events of the ESDC, learned about the European Doctoral School and had an open discussion on the need for the EU Climate Security and Defence Training platform that CEP is also an active member of. As several training institutions were present residentially in Brussels, it gave the CEP director a chance to talk to stakeholders who are highly relevant to CEP’s activities in the field of civilian crisis management.
The next day brought a new meeting in a new format as Nina Cepon and Jelka Klemenc visited the Council of the European Union, Committee on Civilian Aspects of the Missions and Operations (CIVCOM), where they got an opportunity to present activities of the EU Civilian Training Initiative (EUCTI) as well as the developing action proposal, which is planned to start next spring.
CEP has been an active partner of the European Training Community since 2008 and proudly took over a coordination role 2.5 years ago. As the EUCTI project is delivering planned outputs – useful need-based and tailor-made training courses in CSDP mission areas – consultations with the European Commission, CPCC and EEAS designed quite a concrete framework for the new training project. The new consortium will include not only civilian but also police and gendarmerie forces that are jointly aiming at well-prepared experts working in international operations and missions. Several have been sitting jointly around the table, discussing how to cooperate and coordinate better, how to share and pool resources, how to prioritise diverse needs and how to facilitate the EU to play the role of a global actor it aspires to.
Under the auspices of the ESDC, CEP (and in its capacity the Peace Operations Training Centre – POTC) is organising a Comprehensive Protection of Civilians training in Brussels at the beginning of October and planning to deliver Gender Equality and Gender Mainstreaming in Peace Operations and Missions training in April next year.
14. 9. 2023 | POTC, PR
Click here to read this article in English.
Včeraj, 13. september, smo uspešno na gradu Jable uspešno izvedli usposabljanje vojaškega in civilnega osebja katerega namen je preprečevanje trgovine z ljudmi v kontekstu mirovnih misij in operacij.
Usposabljanje je bilo namenjeno zaposlenim na Ministrstvu za obrambo RS in v Slovenski vojski. Natančnje so se udeleženci seznanili:
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z aktualnimi vsebinami s področja boja proti trgovini z ljudmi,
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s kazalniki za prepoznavo morebitnih žrtev in
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z ukrepi ob zaznavi tovrstnih kaznivih dejanj.
Cilj je, da pridobljeno znanje udeleženci usposabljanja prenesejo do pripadnic in pripadnikov Slovenske vojske, ki se bodo udeležili mednarodnih mirovnih misij in operacij, ter na ta način prispevajo tudi k zmanjševanju tega pojava v izvornih državah kot tudi na samih misijah.
Gre za prvo takšno usposabljanje zaposlenih na Ministrstvu za obrambo in v Slovenski vojski, ki poteka v organizaciji Centra za izobraževanje in usposabljanje za sodelovanje v mirovnih operacijah in misijah (POTC). POTC je v čast, da smo lahko učinkovito in uspešno sodelovali s kolegi z Ministrstva za notranje zadeve pri izvedbi le-tega. Poleg predstavnikov z Ministrstva za notranje zadeve, so za prenos znanja poskrbeli tudi kolegi s Slovenske policije in humanitarne organizacije Slovenska karitas.

8. 9. 2023 | PR, Strengthening Societal Resilience and Countering Foreign Perpetrated Disinformation in 6 Western Balkans Countries
Za branje prispevka v slovenščini kliknite tukaj.
The Project Strengthening Societal Resilience and Countering Disinformation in the Western Balkans has concluded its in-country visit to North Macedonia. On 5 September, members of the government, civil society, media and the international community in Skopje joined a half-day event dedicated to exploring the current activities and best practices in countering disinformation.
Representatives of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Hybrid CoE and the Government of Estonia presented the theoretical and practical approaches to developing a national mechanism for countering disinformation, reflecting as well on the EU priorities, activities and support to the Western Balkans in that regard.
Speakers from North Macedonia, namely from the Citizens’ Association MOST and the Metamorphosis Foundation, tracked the current threat of disinformation in the country and the developments in terms of the joint, whole-of-society action to counter this threat, respectively.
The event saw a lively discussion and exchange among the participants, with great interest from the stakeholders in learning from the best practices of EU Member States and the EU as a whole.
In addition to the whole-of-society event, the Project also held consultations with government officials to trace the progress and discuss remaining challenges.
The Project Strengthening Societal Resilience and Countering Disinformation in the Western Balkans is funded by the National Endowment for Democracy and the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovenia through development cooperation funds.
8. 9. 2023 | POTC, PR
Click here to read this article in the English language.
Dne 13. septembra 2023 bo na Gradu Jable v Mengšu potekalo usposabljanje za uslužbence Ministrstva za obrambo in Slovenske vojske o nevarnostih trgovine z ljudmi v kontekstu mednarodnih mirovnih operacij in misij pred njihovim odhodom na le-te.
Problematika trgovine z ljudmi je kompleksna in zahteva združen pristop na nacionalni, regionalni in mednarodni ravni. Da bi se uspešno spopadli s to težavo, je ključno, da se vojaško in civilno osebje ustrezno usposobi.
V okviru tega boja deluje Medresorska delovna skupina za boj proti trgovini z ljudmi (MDS TZL), ki že dolga leta izvaja redna usposabljanja za strokovnjake s področja trgovine z ljudmi, med katerimi so policija, tožilstvo, centri za socialno delo, konzularno in diplomatsko osebje ter inšpektorji za delo. Vendar pa je za leto 2023-2024 sprejeta nova pobuda, ki vključuje tudi vojaško osebje.
Cilj usposabljanja je seznaniti udeležence z aktualnimi vsebinami s področja boja proti trgovini z ljudmi ter jih ozavestiti o njihovih dolžnostih, ko gre za zaznavo tovrstnih kaznivih dejanj. Poleg tega bo poudarek na zmanjševanju povpraševanja po storitvah in blagu, ki jih običajno izvajajo žrtve trgovine z ljudmi, v kontekstu samih mirovnih operacij.
To usposabljanje je v skladu z Natovo politiko boja proti trgovini z ljudmi, ki prav tako vključuje ozaveščanje in usposabljanje na tem pomembnem področju.
Organizatorji se veselijo predstaviti vsebine na tem ključnem usposabljanju, saj bo prispevalo k preprečevanju trgovine z ljudmi in zagotavljanju varnosti mednarodnih operacij in misij.

