Internal Security Fund (2014-2020), field: Police cooperation and crises management

FIRST LINE Practitioners Dealing with Radicalization Issues - Awareness Raising and Encouraging Capacity Building in the Western Balkan Region, project No. HOME/2014/ISFP/AG/RADX/7533

The FIRST LINE project builds on Brdo Process conclusions, adopted at the Informal Interior Ministers Meeting (June 2014). At this meeting, special attention was devoted to issues of strengthening regional cooperation and coordinated EU assistance in complying with conditions of Chapter 24, the need for further development of cooperation in the fight against terrorism and effective fight of new risks and threats to WB security also affecting EU security. It builds on the EU Regional Workshop on Countering Violent Extremism in the Western Balkans (Oct 2014) organized by EEAS, EC and US Government. It directly addresses the need for relations between EU Radicalization Awareness Network (RAN) and equivalent actors in the WB and is focused on enhancing awareness and understanding needed for the setting up of adequate national RAN capacities/structures in the WB region. It also supports the work of the Counter-Terrorism Initiative (CTI) Network of police experts initiated by Slovenia and formally established in 2011 under the auspices of the Brdo Process, aimed at improving information exchange, introduction of EU standards and support specifically operational police work.

The project objective is to raise awareness of first-line practitioners, to transfer knowledge, experiences and good practices in accordance with the EU RAN model which will help WB project partners when creating appropriate conditions to independently identify main threats, challenges, impacts, as well as opportunities and strengthen cooperation and involvement of all relevant national stakeholders based on the EU RAN model.

Specific project objectives:

• to enhance relevant beneficiary stakeholders capability (i.e. Police, other LEAs, Prison & Probation authorities, healthcare & education sector, NGOs, etc.) to recognize main threats and aspects which stimulate growing of radicalization, which can lead to violent extremism and terrorism including foreign fighters;
• to assist in understanding of international, EU legal standards and policies aiming at radicalization and recruitment;
• to raise certain awareness at strategic and systemic level, enabling WB beneficiary stakeholders for easier and more effective use of measures for identification of trigger factors which influence radicalization;
• to assist the WB region in recognizing of own potentials, relevant stakeholders and their role;
• where appropriate for the WB project partner to transfer of good practices developed within the EU collection of approaches, lessons learned and practices;
• to enable a regular information exchange via SIENA, case analyses, MOs and good practices at operational police level via CTI Network.

Activities:

• Kick-off event;
• Preparation and analysis of a radicalisation state of play questionnaire for the WB;
• 2 day preliminary visits to WB project partners;
• 6 interactive workshops to initiate awareness raising in areas identified by EC RAN projects;
• 4 CTI Network operational meetings;
• set-up of a secure CTI WEBpage;
• preparation & adoption of a CTI SIENA communication protocol;
• Closing conference.

Activities will:

• stimulate discussions on risks of radicalization, the need of multi-agency and horizontal approach to such risks and lead to the identification of weaknesses and gaps as well as opportunities for effectively preventing radicalization;
• suggest the creation of conditions for establishing of national platforms to address the problem of radicalization properly;
• encourage WB project partners to recognize primary risks and reasons and address them within a coordination body, whose members will hereafter be responsible for knowledge transfer and coordination of first-line practitioners.

BENEFICIARIES:

• first-line practitioners from WB project partners;
• project consortium (AT, BE, CZ, HR, DK, SI);
• other EU MS;
• CTI Network.

Expected results:

• record and analysis of the State of play of project partners and thereby the WB region;
• raised awareness due to interactive inter-agency/inter-sector workshops;
• shared good practices between WB region and EU in order to improve efficiency and effectiveness in the counter-terrorism field and to strengthen use of common standards;
• secure CTI WEBpage;
• SIENA communication protocol for the CTI Network.

Project duration: 15.1.2016 – 14.1.2018 + 5 months (until 14.6.2018)

Funding: Internal Security Fund (2014-2020), instrument for financial support for Police cooperation and crises management

Call for proposals: Preventing Radicalisation to Terrorism and Violent Extremism, 2014

Project value: 976.236,11 EUR

Eligible costs: 948.872,91 EUR

EU co-financing: 853.805,62 EUR

Co-financing rate: 90%

FIRST LINE project partners in alphabetical order:

• AL - Drejtoria e Përgjithshme e Policisë së Shtetit (General Directorate of Albanian Police)
• AT - Bundesministerium für Inneres, Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz und Terrorismusbekämpfung (Federal Ministry of the Interior, Federal Agency for State Protection and Counter Terrorism)
• BA - Direkcija za koordinaciju policijskih tijela BiH (Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies of Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• BA - Državna agencija za istrage i zaštitu (State Investigation and Protection Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• BA - Ministarstvo sigurnosti Bosne i Hercegovine (Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• BE - Belgische Federale Politie (Belgian Federal Police)
• CZ - Útvar pro odhalovani organizovaného zločinu, Služby kriminálni policie a vyšetřování, Policie Češké republiky (Police of the Czech Republic, Organized Crime Division, Criminal Police and Investigation Service)
• HR - Ministarstvo unutarnjih poslova Republike Hrvatske (Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia)
• Kosovo* - Ministria e Punëve të Brendshme e Republikës së Kosovës, Policia ë Kosovës (Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Kosovo, Kosovo Police)
• MK - Министерство за внатрешни работи нa Pепублика Mакедонија, Yправа за безбедност и контраразузнавање (Ministry of the Interior of Macedonia, Security and Counterintelligence Service)
• MNE - Ministarstvo unutrašnjih poslova Crne Gore, Uprava policije (Ministry of the Interior of Montenegro, Police Directorate)
• RS - Министарство унутрашњих послова Републиke Србијe (Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Serbia)

* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.