The Slovenian Police are hosting the Strategic Council meeting of Railpol, an international association of the organisations responsible for policing the railways in Europe. The two-day event, which started yesterday, 23 November 2022, is attended by 27 members from 15 European countries.
This year's meeting of Railpol Strategic Council is taking place in Ljubljana, under the slogan Railpol is on the right track! Participants come from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland.
Following yesterday's opening of the event and introductory words by Railpol President Bert Westland, the participants were addressed by Jože Senica, Assistant Director General of the Police. He praised the excellent cooperation over the three years of Slovenian membership, which is also reflected in the results of coordinated enhanced controls (such as 24-Blue Rail Action Days, Rail Action Week, etc.) in various areas of our work: public order, crime, counter-terrorism, etc. All our activities are coordinated and implemented jointly with Slovenian Railways, with whom we have also signed a special cooperation agreement.
As Senica pointed out in his address, one of the areas to which we are devoting a great deal of attention in our common mandate, and where international cooperation is particularly important, is certainly the area of illegal migration. "Slovenia is above all a transit country when it comes to migration, which makes it all the more urgent to connect and cooperate with other member states that may be countries of destination," he said.
"There is another important issue that has had a very broad impact on the social life throughout Europe, including our country. This global threat has required all countries to adapt to the new situation. The war against Ukraine raises both humanitarian and security issues and Railpol will definitely play an important role in ensuring security in the region and beyond," continued Senica. In his words, this association is a strategic, connecting link, enabling the exchange of key information between partner countries, the development and exchange of good practices, the preparation of manuals and expert guidelines, so that we may at some point be able to unify certain forms of our work.
The morning part of the first day of the meeting was rounded off by presentations by Dora Mezek-Kukec, representative of Slovenian Railways, and Andrej Doberšek, Inspector from the Uniformed Police Division at the Novo mesto Police Directorate and also a member of Railpol's Working Group on Crime and Illegal Migration. The participants then heard presentations on the activities of other working groups and on research activities in the field of rail security. They went on to vote on, among other things, a proposal for new membership for Canada and Poland, discussed the plan of activities for the coming year and Railpol's operational strategy 2023-2026, and announced the next meeting of the Strategic Council, to be hosted by Austria in spring next year.
Slovenian police are represented in four operational working groups
The Strategic Council is the highest body of the association, which takes strategic decisions on Railpol's activities. The operational part of the association is represented by the activities of five working groups – Slovenia takes part in four of them – namely Crime and Illegal Migration, Counter Terrorism, Public Order and Police Investigation of Railway Accidents. On 1 January 2023, the Dutch colleagues will hand over the leadership of the Association to the French representatives. The Slovenian Police representative in the Strategic Council is Alojz Sladič, Head of the General Safety and Security Planning Section in the Uniformed Police Directorate of the General Police Directorate.
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