Article by Dr. Johanna Mikl-Leitner, Minister of the Interior of the Republic of Austria:”Trust and Security through Cooperation on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s way towards the EU”

Globalization of crime is a problem confronting all law enforcement agencies and Bosnia and Herzegovina is no exception in this case. Transnational criminal organizations and international fugitives do take advantage of the global economy to travel, communicate and hide from police detection. The globalization phenomenon reminds us that we should unite our efforts, capable of apprehending and arresting criminals through cooperation with each other. Bosnia and Herzegovina is fundamental to international security given the regions strategic importance in cross border law enforcement cooperation and crime prevention.

Major challenges in law enforcement for Bosnia and Herzegovina include the ongoing effective fight against organized crime and corruption, strengthening of cooperation and coordination between all police agencies and prosecutors in the country and abroad, and the alignment of law enforcement legislation to the EU Acquis.

To stay ahead of modern-day criminals, the law enforcement community needs to have adequate resources, sufficient knowledge and well developed partnerships with relevant stakeholders. Additionally, a rapidly changing security landscape requires a proactive, innovative and global law enforcement approach. Permanent training and capacity building, quick identification of potential criminals through direct access to criminal intelligence databases, and timely regional, national and global police coordination will ensure that the right information is in the right place in the right time and that police remains one step ahead of criminals.

That is why on the 9th October the official start of the European Union funded project “EU Support to Law Enforcement” will take place in Sarajevo. A Consortium led by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Interior in partnership with the Hungarian Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Slovenia, Police Academy of the Federal State of Brandenburg and International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), with Transparency International BiH as an associate partner will implement this 6.9 million EUR project.

Overall, the project shall contribute to bring BiH law enforcement agencies up to the level required for EU accession and will assist BiH in achieving its obligations under the Stabilisation and Association Agreements (SAA) as the project components directly and indirectly address several articles under Title VII (Justice, Freedom and Security) of the SAA. It builds upon manifold on-going and past actions in the law enforcement sector, in particular by the EU.

The planned activities aim at achieving, in close cooperation with the relevant BiH partner institutions, the improvement of legislation, capacities, and capabilities of police bodies, institutions and agencies. Local and international experts will guarantee that the project will not apply singular measures, but approach problems in a holistic or complete, systematic, needs oriented way.

The project team will share and learn, listen and advise, liaise and co-operate, trust and be trusted allowing for flexibility, transparency, dialogue with civil society, and continuity of action. It should not reinvent the wheel but build upon already existing structures and mechanisms, formal and informal, focusing on solutions that will remain after the project ends, combining European standards with BiH practice.

We are confident that by working together on this project there will be less space for criminals in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Europa.ba