Improvements in physical security and stockpile management (PSSM) through infrastructure security upgrades, surplus reduction and targeted training contributed to reducing proliferation risks by enhancing the security of weapons and ammunition stockpiles, reducing surplus and confiscated SALW and ammunition, improving PSSM practices, and strengthening inspection systems of law enforcement authorities across the region.
Infrastructure Security Upgrades to Evidence Rooms and Storage Facilities
To increase the physical security and stockpile management capacities of police services across the region, SEESAC has completed the security upgrades of eighteen (18) evidence room locations across the region.
Namely, working to reduce the risk of proliferation through enhancement of weapons and ammunition stockpile security, in 2021, SEESAC completed security upgrades of three (3) evidence rooms at the local Security Centers of the Police Directorate in Montenegro (Bijelo Polje, Bar and Niksic) as well as three (3) evidence rooms in Kosovo1 (Pristina, Prizren, and Mitrovica South).
Furthermore, at the end of 2023, security upgrade activities of SALW evidence rooms were completed at three (3) locations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, at the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies at one Border Police field office, and the State Agency for investigations and protection (SIPA) and the beneficiaries resumed use of the completed rooms in January 2024.
In 2024, the security upgrades at four (4) MoI Serbia evidence rooms (Stari Grad, Palilula, Novi Beograd, and Zemun) and three (3) in North Macedonia (Tetovo, Gazi Baba and Prilep) were completed and handed over to the beneficiaries.
Additionally, in 2024, activities in support of enhanced security of one (1) SALW storage and (2) evidence rooms through infrastructure upgrades in the Republic of Moldova were completed. Namely, upon completing the necessary operational steps, including the engagement of a local engineer to support the activities, procurement of design and services in 2023 as well as procurement of works in 2024, the upgrade works at one (1) SALW storage location in Balti and two (2) evidence rooms in Chisinau and Edinet were executed and handed over to the beneficiaries in November 2024.
Reduction and Disposal of Surplus and Confiscated SALW and Ammunition
To diminish risks of proliferation through the reduction of confiscated and surplus stocks of SALW and ammunition, SEESAC supported SALW disposal activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, and Kosovo. Through these actions, SEESAC supported authorities in destroying 10,644 pieces of SALW, 4,998 parts and components of SALW, and 50,000 cartridges.
Capacity-Building on Physical Security and Stockpile Management
Three regional thematic workshops for the personnel responsible for Physical Security and Stockpile Management of conventional weapons and ammunition were organized in 2022, 2023, and 2024 to further strengthen the weapons and ammunition management capacities of authorities in the Western Balkans and the Republic of Moldova. Additionally, the capacities of police officers of the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia in charge of record-keeping of weapons and proper and safe storage of ammunition and weapons in police stations/administrations were increased through a series of training on Physical Security and Stockpile Management held in 2022 and 2023. The 2023 workshops were organised following the two mass shooting incidents in Serbia, which triggered the Government to introduce a number of measures to decrease the illicit possession and misuse of firearms in the country.