Researchers from the Czech Republic (EUROPEUM), Hungary (IFAT), and Poland (OSW), together with their local WB6 think tank hosts and IDSCS as project coordinator attended meetings with representatives from the WB6 ministries of foreign affairs (MFAs), parliaments, civil society, and political parties.
During the meetings, the participants and hosts of the study visits presented the goals, deliverables, and upcoming activities of the THINK BALKANS project and called for future political and financial support through IVF and WBF, necessary for the official establishment of the permanent mechanism for cooperation between WB6 expert community and WB6 MFAs. The study visits also served as fact-checking missions aimed at providing them with the V4 guest researchers with the necessary information for the production of V4 partners’ short-term analysis on the lessons learned from WB6.
The impact of the study visits is four-fold. The Bosnian, Montenegrin, Serbian and Kosovar MFAs congratulated on the achieved results of the THINK BALKANS project, greeted the cooperation between the V4 and WB6 think tanks, and MFAs, calling for its future deepening, and committed to greater cooperation and support of the THINK BALKANS consortium. Furthermore, the representatives of MFA underlined the need for the expertise provided by the local authors from the region and expressed a genuine willingness to learn from the Visegrad Group experience. They mentioned common challenges like the green agenda and pollution, which should be addressed in the framework of this cooperation. During the meeting, the participants also discussed the establishment of the contact points in the ministry for such cooperation. The other stakeholders, interlocutors at these study visits, especially MPs and CSOs, expressed interest in greater cooperation, expertise and knowledge sharing within the Western Balkans, as well as across V4 and WB6. Last, the visiting V4 researchers gained a better understanding of the context in the WB6 countries for establishing the Think Balkans platform and exchanged their experience and know-how from the Think Visegrad with the stakeholders in the region.
Management of patrols is an important part of the police response to people’s needs when their lives, safety, or property are at stake. The needs of vulnerable groups are particularly important here. In many cases, it is essential, even a matter of life or death, how quickly a patrol can respond. A police officer who performs a dangerous task in the field can also be in danger of death. It is therefore important that we have a well-functioning patrol management system that enables the efficient management of all police capacities.
In the period from 8 to 11 June 2021, a series of workshops was held, the purpose of which was to strengthen capacity and prepare for the integration of organizational units in the field of police administrations Bor, Pirot, Požarevac and Zaječar in the patrol management system. Representatives of these police administrations exchanged their experiences with their colleagues from organizational units in the territory of Police Administration Sremska Mitrovica and Police Administration Vranje, as well as with representatives of the Police of the Republic of Slovenia. The Slovenian Police were represented as active interlocutors by Primož Kadunc, Head of the Road Traffic Department in the Uniformed Police Sector, Miha Ristič from the Operational Communication Center, both Police Administration Ljubljana and Martin Detiček, Assistant Commander of the Police Station Brežice from the Police Administration Novo mesto.
The project is part of the program activities of international development cooperation, financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia and implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior and the Police of the Republic of Slovenia.
We have the pleasure to announce that the first fully in-person training after March 2020 will take place in the coastal town of Bar (Montenegro) between 21 and 25 June 2021.
The COVID-19 pandemic also pushed our project into the grip of virtual activities that had a much lower impact in comparison to in-person activities. The training in Montenegro will be a perfect opportunity to gather government communicators, especially young individuals that did not have the opportunity to expand their knowledge yet.
Throughout the training, which will be focused on practicality, we will cover general topics about digital diplomacy such as Digital future, Digital Rhetoric, Social Media Analytics, Principles of Public speaking, Identifying and Responding to Misinformation, How to use Disinformation Tools, Digital Campaign Development, Storytelling, Interviewing Techniques, Influencer Marketing, Tips and Tricks, and others.
This training – organized by the Centre for European Perspective, together with the U.S. Department of State – will bring together participants from public relations services of the ministries of foreign affairs, other interested ministries, and state institutions from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Georgia, Kosovo, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, and Ukraine.
“Crime does not pay off,” is a message that is being resolutely approached in North Macedonia and which the competent Macedonian investigation and prosecution authorities want to spread across the country with their work and results in the field of financial investigations and confiscation of assets of illicit origin act.
To this end, Slovenia continues to provide development assistance to North Macedonia in strengthening the capacities necessary for the successful implementation of these legal competencies. From 29 June to 2 July 2021, workshops will be held in North Macedonia in the field of analytical work and operational procedures in financial investigation, where colleagues will exchange Macedonian and Slovenian experiences.
The project is part of the programme activities of Slovenia’s Development Cooperation Programme financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia and carried out together with the State Prosecution, Financial Administration, Ministry of Interior and Police of the Republic of Slovenia.
On Friday, 11 June 2021, the capacity building workshop on disinformation concluded. The event brought together representatives of media and civil society from the Western Balkans. The representatives of government from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Montenegro were present, which enabled all three stakeholders to exchange experiences and learn from each other.
The participants received input from international and local experts, which was followed by a discussion. The topics were centred around how different actors in Europe counter disinformation and what is the role of the government, civil society and media in this. The event enabled media and civil society organizations to openly share their common challenges and engage in discussion on how to address them. It provided an environment in which stakeholders from all three sectors could engage in an open and honest exchange of views. In the second half, the participants actively engaged in scenario role-play to address crises situations and disinformation. This will be followed by other events and activities which encourage stakeholders to tackle the challenge of foreign disinformation in the Western Balkans.
The event was organized in the framework of the project “Strengthening societal resilience and countering foreign perpetrated disinformation in the Western Balkans” financed by the National Endowment for Democracy and Slovenian Aid fund from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
For more about the project activities – click here.
