Today, on 16 January 2008, at the General Police Directorate at Štefanova 2, Ljubljana, Deputy Director General of the Police Matjaž Šinkovec received the police officers who are joining the EUPM (European Union Police Mission) in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Robert Urek, Bernard Vesenjak and Boris Železnik.
The police officers were also received by Danijel Žibret, Director of the Uniformed Police Directorate of the General Police Directorate, Darko Lesjak, who is responsible for the mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina and works at the Security Planning and Peacekeeping Missions Division of Uniformed Police Directorate, General Police Directorate, and Bojan Lunežnik, a member of the Interdepartmental working group for the implementation of the law on secondment to peacekeeping missions of international organizations and president of the police committee.
The EUPM aims to advise and assist the BiH police in fighting large-scale organised crime and helps with police reform. It cooperates with other EU players and local law enforcement agencies.
The Slovenian police have been taking part in the EUPM in BiH since November 2002 with four police officers serving there in shift of 12 months. The police officers serve at three different locations: in Sarajevo (the general headquarters of the mission), Banja Luka (one police officer works in the field of organised crime and another in the fields of internal protection and of general police tasks within the canton), and Bosanska Gradiška (State Border Police).
The Slovenian police officers serve in the mission as police advisers. Their work so far has been very professional and they are well-known and respected for their expertise in the EUPM. By discharging demanding tasks concerning security in BiH, Slovenian police officers also act as ambassadors of the Slovenian police strengthening the reputation of the Police and the Republic of Slovenia abroad.
"Slovenian Police in International Civilian Missions 1997-2007" - brochure
From left to right: Bojan Lunežnik, Matjaž Šinkovec, Bernard Vesenjak, Robert Urek, Danijel Žibret, Boris Železnik in Darko Lesjak
Robert Urek is Assistant Head of the Specialised Unit for State Border Control, Uniformed Police Directorate, General Police Directorate. He will serve in the mission as an adviser for border matters in the Gradiška canton. He participated in the mission from 2002 to 2003.
Bernard Vesenjak is Head of the Police Neighbourhood at the Šentilj Police Station, Maribor Police Directorate. He will serve in the mission as an adviser in the BiH State Information and Protection Agency (SIPA) at the headquarters in Sarajevo. He has gained experience in the UNMIK mission in Kosovo, where he served from 2003 to 2004.
Boris Železnik is a Senior Police Inspector at the Peacekeeping Missions Section of the Security Planning and Peacekeeping Missions Division, Uniformed Police Directorate, General Police Directorate. He will serve in the mission as a deputy chief police adviser in the Tuzla canton. He has gained experience in the UNMIK mission in Kosovo, where he served from 2003 to 2004.
The police officers will start serving in the mission for one year on 21 January 2008. They will join Ivo Usar, who continues to serve till March 2008. Domen Rožič, Zdravko Slavec and David Ukaj returned from the mission on 31 December 2007.