Last Friday, Director General of the Police Marjan Fank received police officers deployed to international civilian missions in Kosovo and Palestine.
Six Slovenian police officers have been selected so far in the last two calls for participation in international civilian missions EULEX in Kosovo and COPPS in Palestine. Five officers are leaving for the EULEX mission in Kosovo while one is leaving for the COPPS mission in Palestine.
The EULEX international civilian mission has been operating since 2008 when it succeeded the UN's UNMIK mission. It is currently the largest mission with most EU member states and five third countries participating in it. June 2014 saw the adoption of the mission's new operational plan defining its structure until the termination of its mandate in June 2016.
The objective of the mission headed by the Italian diplomat Gabriele Meucci remains to assist and support the Kosovo institutions in developing the rule of law, specifically with regard to the police, judiciary and customs. The mission is developing and strengthening an independent and multi-ethnic judicial system, and a multi-ethic police and customs service, in compliance with internationally recognised standards and EU best practices. The Slovenian Police have been present in this mission since its beginning in 2008 and are currently participating in the mission with ten officers. Together with Allen Lorbek, Damjan Potparič, Andrej Cedilnik, Boštjan Ivančič and Lara Kaiser, there will be a total of 15 Slovenian officers in the mission, although one of them is terminating his mandate in February 2015.
The EUPOL COPPS mission in Palestine aims to assist the Palestinian Police in the area of the West Bank. The Slovenian Police have been participating in the mission since 2012 with two officers in each mandate. This year, Zlatko Fišer, who has been employed with the police since 1989, is leaving to work in the mission.