On 17 November, the State Police of the Republic of Albania organized the presentation of the report “Establishing the Southeast Europe Women Police Officers Network” research findings. The event was attended by Deputy Minister of Interior - Ms. Iva Zajmi, General Director of State Police - Mr. Hysni Burgaj, the UN Resident Coordinator - Ms. Zineb Touimi-Benjelloun, as well as by the heads of regional police departments, police officers members of the Women’s  Forum of the Police Association, and representatives of international donor organizations that support Albanian State Police.  ... read more

The sixth meeting of the Regional Information Exchange Process on Arms Export Controls, organized by SEESAC, took place on 10 November in Belgrade, Serbia and was attended by the delegations of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.  ... read more

On 10 November 2011, SEESAC launched the newly published Regional Report on Arms Exports for 2009. The report is the direct result of a collective effort made by countries of South Eastern Europe to jointly present their arms export activities using a common methodology designed by the EU and common denominator information. The only other such regional effort in the world is one exercised by the countries of the European Union.  In close collaboration with national governments, SEESAC has been publishing the regional report on annual basis since 2009. This year’s report contains detailed information on arms exports of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia during 2009.  ... read more

On 10 November, SEESAC organized a public presentation of the third Regional Report on Arms Exports for 2009 and annual national reports on arms exports produced by the Republic of Albania, Republic of Croatia, Montenegro and the Republic of Serbia.  The production of these reports is one of the concrete results of a regional SEESAC project on Arms Export Control generously supported by Norway.  ... read more

On 10 November 2011, Mr. Elton Hodaj, a representative of the Albanian State Export Control Authority (AKSHE), presented the newly published Albanian Annual Report on Export Control for 2010. The report was launched at the SEESAC organized joint presentation of the regional and national reports on arms exports held in Belgrade. This is the 3rd Annual report produced by the AKSHE and it contains data on the types, amount, and value of goods exported and imported by the Republic of Albania, as well as the countries of destination/origin/transit for those goods, military list categories they fall under and the number of licences issued for each. In addition, the report outlines Albanian national policies regarding the export control of military and dual use goods, as well as the description of the licencing procedures for those goods. The report further discusses Albania’s alignment with international conventions and agreements that have been ratified by the Republic of Albania, as well as the level of Albania’s cooperation with the relevant international and industry stakeholders.   ... read more

On 28 October 2011, a further 1,680 pieces of small arms and light weapons were destroyed at the CMC Sisak Steel Mill, Croatia. The destruction took place under the EU funded arms control programme, which supports, among other activities, the improvement of safety through collection and destruction of illegal and surplus SALW. In Croatia, activities are implemented jointly by UNDP Croatia and the Croatian Ministry of Interior in close cooperation with SEESAC.  ... read more

The Ministry of Economy, Labor and Entrepreneurship of the Republic of Croatia produced their second "Annual Report on Export and Import of Military Goods and Non-Military Lethal Goods for 2010." The Report comprehensively covers all the efforts that have been invested by the relevant bodies of the Republic of Croatia in the course of the year, in order to establish as successful a system of export and import control as possible for military goods and non-military lethal goods. The Report includes the description of the legal framework, together with various methods of international cooperation and assistance to the domestic industry with the aim of export facilitation.  The report provides data on issued and used licences for export and import of military goods and non-military lethal goods for commercial purposes in 2010.  ... read more

From 19th through 22nd October, the awareness raising and weapons collection campaign “Less Arms, Less Tragedies” continued in Croatia, this time in the counties of Vukovarsko-Sremska and Medjimurska. The Medjimurska campaign took place at Mursko Sredisca and Piskoroved – a Roma community settlement, while the activities in the Vukovarsko-Sremska country included information booths in downtown Vinkovci and awareness rising at the Vinkovci football stadium, during the Croatia National Championship football match between Cibalia and Zadar. The campaign is financed by the European Union through SEESAC and is implemented with the assistance of the UNDP Croatia.     ... read more

The importance of quality stockpile management is something we are usually reminded of only when facing a major accident caused by the lack of adequate facilities or unprofessional handling of stockpiles. Unfortunately, such accidents happen often enough. On September 13^th, 2011 in Croatia’s region of Knin a fire broke out and enveloped a military depot, causing a series of explosions, damage to the nearby villages and evacuation of hundreds of local residents.  ... read more

Diman Dimov, SEESAC Team Leader discussed SEESAC’s work on  arms control in an interview for the Sunday edition of Serbia’s daily “Blic.” The collection and destruction of small arms and light weapons in the countries of South Eastern Europe is one of the integral parts of SEESAC’s work.  ... read more