Handover ceremony of equipment donated by the European Union (EU) to the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) worth 20,980.00 euros took place on 26, October 2016 at the SIPA Head Quarters in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Sezin Sinanoglu, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in BiH, Richard Wood, Head of Rule of Law Section at the EU Special Representative Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Perica Stanić, Director of SIPA took part in the handover ceremony.

The EU donated 20,980.00 euros worth specialized equipment through the EU Support of SEESAC Disarmament and Arms Control Activities in South East Europe Project (EUSAC), as part of the project’s third component  “Improved Marking and Tracing of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW)” that aims to improve capacities for marking, tracing, and record-keeping of weapons and thus strengthen the effective rule of law.

“UNDP and EU remain strongly committed to increasing the technical capacities of the law enforcement institutions in BiH and the wider region“, UNDP Resident Representative Sinanoglu said during the ceremony, adding that this donation will “result in strengthening the cooperation and the expertise of the region to fight the trafficking and illegal possession of firearms and at the same time reduce a threat to peace, stability and sustainable development”.

“The EU has recognized firearms as a strategic priority to be addressed by all EU actors and as such, the fight against the proliferation, smuggling, and illicit trade of firearms has taken precedence for all of the EU member states”, Wood said, adding that the new equipment will improve the performance of the BiH law enforcement authorities and significantly aid non-proliferation of firearms.

“I would like to express my gratitude for this valuable and important equipment for SIPA. This equipment is strengthening SIPA’s capacities and contributing to improvement of criminal investigations on illegal trade of firearms and military equipment”, said SIPA Director Perica Stanic and added that the technically strengthened SIPA will contribute to stronger fight against terrorism and create more secure environment for citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, countries of the region and the European Union members.

The history of large scale accumulation of small arms and light weapons and ammunition stockpiles in South East Europe (SEE), has made the countries in the region a particular concern as well as an important challenge in the European Union Strategy to combat illicit accumulation and trafficking of small arms and light weapons (SALW) and their ammunition. Hence, this Action is supported by the EU Council Decision 2013/730/CFSP and being a continuation of the Union’s previous support to combat the threat posed by the spread and illicit trafficking in SALW, in and from South East Europe, forms an essential part in its efforts to achieve the EU SALW Strategy goals.

The United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2220 on combating the “illicit transfer destabilizing accumulation and misuse” of small arms and light weapons on 22 May 2015.

Additional information:

EU SUPPORT OF SEESAC DISARMAMENT AND ARMS CONTROL ACTIVITIES IN SOUTH EAST EUROPE (EUSAC)

The European Union entrusted SEESAC with the implementation of a series of region-wide activities in the period 2014 – 2016 through EU COUNCIL DECISION 2013/730/CFSP. The regional course is part of Component 1 of the resulting EUSAC Project (EU Support of SEESAC Disarmament and Arms Control Activities in South East Europe) which is an integral part of the SEESAC SALW Control portfolio.

EUSAC marks a continuation of the trust placed in SEESAC by the EU since 2002. The Union previously supported SEESAC through Council Decision 2002/842/CFSP, extended and amended by Council Decisions 2003/807/CFSP and 2004/791/CFSP. Most recently, the Union supported SEESAC arms control activities through Council Decision 2010/179/CFSP.

Designed in close cooperation with national authorities, the EUSAC project works on the following five interrelated streams of activities:

•    Increased security of stockpiles: through the renovation and security improvements to storages of arms and ammunition.
•    Stockpile reduction: through the destruction of surplus arms and ammunition held in storages.
•    Improved marking, tracing and registration of SALW: through the provision of support to the establishment or enhancement of existing weapons registration and record-keeping systems.
•    Improved regional cooperation on awareness raising, information sharing and knowledge transfer: through the facilitation of regional cooperation between national institutions tasked with arms control.
•    Implementation of collection and awareness raising campaigns.

For additional information please contact:
Monika Lajhner, UNDP/SEESAC Communications and PR Expert
monika.lajhner@undp.org
mob: +381 63 105 2580