The Home Affairs Programme of the European Union (HAPE) Project held its second Steering Committee Meeting on 14 December 2023 in Pristina. The meeting was co-chaired by Mr. Massimo Prozzo - Task Manager of the European Union Office in Kosovo and Mr. Ron Krasniqi - Acting Head of Division for Policy Coordination - Department for European Integration, International Cooperation and Policy Coordination of Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Also present at the meeting were: Col. Gazmend Hoxha-General Director of Kosovo Police, Ms. Fikrije Krasniqi Fejzullahu-Prosecutor from Special Prosecution Office (SPO) , representatives from various departments of MIA, including representatives from Police Inspectorate of Kosovo (PIK), Kosovo Academy for Public Safety (KAPS) and Kosovo Forensic Agency (KFA), Among the consortium for the project, Mr. Philippe Crespo-French Directorate for International cooperation, and Ms. Maria Angulo-CIVIPOL representative, Mr. Silvio Esposito-Italian Embassy representative and Mr. Didier Fanack-French Embassy representative.
The event was a showcase of the project achievements during August – November 2023, including views on the way forward. During the presentation made by Br. Gen. Vincenzo Tagliaferri - HAPE Team Leader, Mr. Philippe Marie - Deputy Team Leader and Maj. Massimiliano Moro - Long-term Key Expert, it was underlined that in general, HAPE has made progress in supporting the main beneficiary institutions, namely, MIA, KP, relevant Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) and SPO with the aim of increasing their capacities, to be in line with EU best practices and standards contributing to the strengthening the Rule of Law and the fight against organized crime in Kosovo.
The amendments of Kosovo home affairs legal order towards their approximation with the EU Acquis and International standards have been further supported. In parallel, the project is also supporting the drafting of strategic documents, to create coherent home affairs strategic priorities that can be easily implemented.
During the reporting period, HAPE has supported the beneficiaries with numerous activities, including workshops, trainings, participated in numerous meetings at Kosovo and regional levels and at EU level, and mobilized short-term experts to meet evolving beneficiary needs. HAPE also supported operational meetings and Joint investigation teams (JITs) between KP and police forces from other countries and enabled 4 SPRK Prosecutors to attend a high-level training on JITs in Germany, organized by EUROJUST. The project presented the 2ndwork plan and its actions for the next quarter as well.
HAPE project has further cooperated with parallel assistance and all sector donors in Kosovo, to create good synergy and coordinate their activities to avoid any possible overlap.
After the discussions, the Steering Committee members set the 26th of April 2024 as the date for the next Steering Committee meeting.
more information : www.hape-kosovo.eu.
