Feed aggregator

522310 Munira Shoinbekova, OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe Umeda Gafurova

On July 1, 2022, the OSCE Border Management Staff College (BMSC) concluded its 32nd Staff Course for Women Leaders in a blended format. Twenty-six mid to senior-ranking security and management officials from border, customs, migration, internal affairs, maritime security, and drug control agencies attended.  They represented twelve OSCE Participating States and Partners for Cooperation, namely Algeria, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Portugal, Romania, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkiye and Uzbekistan.

The four-week event represented the eighth course designed and delivered by the OSCE BMSC exclusively for women leaders of various border security and management agencies. The gender exclusive course aimed to further empower women working in the field of border security and management by further developing their organization-level competencies and professional skills, establishing working relations with counterparts, and promoting gender-sensitivity in the respective professional environment.

In his speech at the closing ceremony, Ambassador Vuk Zugic, Head of the OSCE Program Office in Dushanbe (POiD), noted that the College has been in service for more than thirteen years and continues to provide the highest quality of education and training for senior border security officers from across the OSCE region. All-women staff courses, which are organized once a year, aim at enhancing the involvement of more female border officers and addressing gender imbalance in the border security sector. 

In her closing remarks, Tea Jaliashvili, Deputy Head of the OSCE POiD, encouraged participants to stay in touch with the College, their instructors, and their counterparts to enhance a multi-agency networking to promote interchange of information and best practices among them, to support development of their leadership potential, and to help to advance their training delivery skills.    

Ezgi Arslan, a participant from Ministry of Interior’s Border Management Department of the Republic of Turkiye, thanked the college for the unique opportunity to acquire valuable knowledge in the respective field, which is further augmented by the exploration of other represented countries’ experience(s). Also, the opportunity to be able to contribute to her country’s efforts in border security as she intends to apply the gained knowledge in her professional field.

Irina Turturean, a graduate from the General Inspectorate of Border Police of Romania, noted that the course represented a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her to enrich her professional knowledge on a wide variety of border-related subjects. She claimed that everyone who completed the course gained invaluable skills and knowledge. Finally, she noted the value of establishing professional connections and friendships that will last for many years to come.

The BMSC’s Staff Course is comprised of seven study modules. The core course curriculum covers border security and management in the context of the OSCE’s three-dimensional comprehensive security concept. Topics covered during the course included the promotion of border security and management in the OSCE area, border security and management models, organizational management and leadership, as well as basic learning and teaching skills. Participants of the course were also engaged in group research projects related to and covering the OSCE’s three dimensions of security.         

A roundtable discussion entitled “Best Practices in Gender Mainstreaming in Border Security and Management and Governmental Section,” was also conducted in the framework of the course. The event focused on the best approaches adopted by the States of the OSCE region in promoting gender mainstreaming to create more representative and inclusive border management and government institutions.

Tschechien wird sich während seiner Präsidentschaft dafür einsetzen, dass Kroatien in den Schengen-Raum aufgenommen wird, sagte der tschechische Premier Petr Fiala am Donnerstag nach einem Treffen mit seinem kroatischen Amtskollegen.

Le Premier ministre monténégrin Dritan Abazović a encouragé son pays à rejoindre rapidement l’Union européenne, une démarche soutenue par le chancelier autrichien Karl Nehammer.

Would-be successors to scandal-ridden British Prime Minister Boris Johnson were readying Friday (8 July) for what will be a prolonged battle, the day after an extraordinary exodus of Conservative ministers brought about their leader's downfall.

En Europe, les aéroports croulent sous la pression du retour massif des voyageurs par avion cet été, ce qui entraîne un véritable chaos, avec des bagages perdus, des correspondances manquées et des passagers bloqués pendant des heures avant de pouvoir rencontrer un personnel à bout de nerfs.

Due to Russia's attempts to destabilise Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Bundestag will vote today on rejoining the EU military mission EUFOR Althea. However, the mission could soon be stripped of its legal basis.

The European Confederation of Independent Trade Unions' Summer Days 2022 two days of debates saw key messages on how the green and digital transitions must be worker-centred.

Progress on finding the remains of some 6,000 people still missing after the fall of Albania’s communist regime is still no more tangible due to disagreements between law enforcement institutions, according to the Files Authority, which reported to the Laws...

Dutch gas company Gasunie on Thursday (7 July) said it had contracted 7 billion cubic metres (bcm) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year to be delivered to its new terminal in the north of the Netherlands.

Hungary's central bank raised one of its main interest rates by 200 basis points to 9.75 per cent on Thursday. The move follows a 5 per cent fall in the currency against the euro over the past week. Budapest has been at odds with the EU Commission over its rule of law record and Brussels has held back pandemic loans worth more than €15bn.

EU Rapporteur for Kosovo Viola von Cramon has warned that Russia may exploit current unrest in the Western Balkans, as protests continue in North Macedonia. North Macedonia has experienced six days of protests as thousands of citizens and the country’s main opposition...

An advisor to the EU court in Luxembourg has said Italian authorities can force US property-rental firm Airbnb to give up data to national tax authorities. The firm recently lost a similar case in Belgian courts, in a challenge to its business model in Europe. "Airbnb wants to be a good partner on tax," it said. The EU court advisor's opinion is not binding, but most verdicts follow suit.

Geoplin, Slovenia’s largest distributor of natural gas, has confirmed that it will be competing for capacities of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Rovigo, near Venice, after not having been awarded a contract for spare capacity at the LNG...

Turkey has let free a Russian-flagged ship Ukraine said was full of stolen grain, prompting Kyiv to summon Turkey's ambassador to clarify what happened, Reuters reports. "We regret that Russia's ship Zhibek Zholy, which was full of stolen Ukrainian grain, was allowed to leave Karasu port, despite criminal evidence presented to the Turkish authorities," Ukraine's foreign ministry said. The Turkish decision was "unacceptable" it added.

Finnish MPs have passed a law to strengthen barriers on the country's 1,300km-long border with Russia, currently composed of wooden fences designed to keep farm animals from wandering. "In all likelihood the fence will not cover the entire eastern border but will be targeted at locations considered to be the most important", Sanna Palo, director of the Finnish border guards' legal division told The Guardian. Finland is also joining Nato.

The Slovak Ministry of Agriculture has voiced reservations about the new legal framework for the use of pesticides, which the Commission proposed in June as part of the Nature restoration law. The EU executive proposed the first legally binding EU-level...

Ukraine has arrested a gang-leader in Kyiv charged with trafficking refugee women via Europe to Turkey for prostitution after giving them fake promises of other jobs, The Guardian reports. One 21-year old woman was to be moved via Hungary and Austria to Istanbul. "Her vulnerable condition was clear: absence of money, a child to support," Oleh Tkalenko, a Ukrainian prosecutor said. Some women may have been trafficked to EU destinations.

Irish taoiseach Michael Martin has urged outgoing British prime minister Boris Johnson to rethink plans by the British government to override the protocol governing Northern Irish trade under Brexit. Martin said London-Dublin relations had been "strained and challenged" and urged a "pulling back from unilateral action, whether that be on dealing with the legacy of the past, human rights, or the Northern Ireland protocol."

The European Parliament has called to include the right to legal and safe abortion into the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, following the critical ruling overturning abortion rights in the US.

Czechia will strive to ensure that, during its presidency, the EU grants Croatia entry into the Schengen Area, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Thursday after meeting with his Croatian counterpart in Prague. Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said...