SEEFEN 9

31 May - 1 June 2018, Tirana

SEEFEN is the only regional platform in South East Europe the enables dialogue amongst all experts involved in the gun-enabled crime chain from the bullet found at a crime scene to the criminal behind bars, from the region to the rest of Europe.  

Held between 31 May - 1 June 2018  in Tirana, Albania, the ninth Regional Meeting of the South East Europe Firearms Expert Network (SEEFEN 9), gathered 37 participants from prosecutors, customs officers, forensic specialists, to police representatives, including expert contributors guests from INTERPOL, EMPACT, the National Ballistics Intelligence Service (NABIS), European Commission or the Guardia Civil of Spain. Taking place twice a year since 2014, SEEFEN’s meetings support the fight against serious, organized, and cross-border firearms related crime through enhanced regional cooperation at the technical level.

Key statements from officials present at the event:

Mr. Albert Dervishaj, Director of Public Order, General Directorate of State Police of Albania:

“Cross-border cooperation is the answer to the ever-changing threats and risks. And SEEFEN is one way to overcome these challenges and tackle our joint security challenges”

Mr. Emmanuel Vallens, Policy Officer, European Commission, DG Migration and Home Affairs, Organised Crime - Task-force Firearms:

“The European Union strongly welcomes the activities that the experts gathered here are conducting in the region, like the strong commitments towards establishing Firearms Focal Points, for example.”

Mr. Goran Svilanović, Secretary-General of the Regional Cooperation Council

“SEEFEN brings together all the experts involved in firearms-related crime in this region. There is no other event as such”.

In the one of a kind typical SEEFEN type of information-exchange merging international expertise with knowledge from experts working on-the-ground in South East Europe, this edition of SEEFEN  enabled participants to share the latest development in terms of firearms-related criminality. The topics range from latest European legislation updates and their applicability at regional level, new trends spotted on-the-ground in terms of convertible weapons, challenges related fighting firearms trafficking on the dark web as well as what is the state of the art in all jurisdictions present in terms of their latest methods of fighting gun-enabled crime, the challenges they face and how can regional cooperation assist combat these challenges.  

About SEEFEN:

SEEFEN was created to facilitate the exchange of information and the transfer of knowledge within the region and between the region and the EU while promoting practical cooperation in fighting the illegal possession and illicit transfer of firearms. The members of the Network are members of the Police services, Customs Administrations, Public Prosecutors’ Offices and forensic experts from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Moldova, Kosovo*, Serbia, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. SEEFEN meetings take place with the support of the EU, in the framework of Council Decision 2016/2356/CFSP in support of SEESAC disarmament and arms control activities in South-East Europe.

*References to Kosovo shall be understood to be in the context of Security Council resolution 1244 (1999).