SEESAC SNAPSHOT: Get a peek at our SALW Control-focused activities during the July -September period
1,972 pieces of SALW disposed of in Bosnia and Herzegovina
5th Regional Roadmap Coordination meeting
Local Roadmap Coordination meeting in Sarajevo
For almost two decades, SEESAC has been supporting local authorities in South East Europe to strengthen their SALW control measures and thus contribute to citizen security. Facilitating regional cooperation, supporting capacity development of key institutions, providing technical guidance, deepening the understanding of problems at hand, providing coordination of relevant activities, have been some of the many useful tools in this endeavour. Currently, SEESAC is implementing two1 and has initiated a third2 EU-funded regional, multifaceted SALW Control project, in addition to executing two US-funded projects in Albania and Serbia focusing on physical security and stockpile management. Under these projects, SEESAC implemented the following activities during the July-September 2021 period.
Advancing legislation and policy frameworks
Harmonization of FAE (firearms, ammunition and explosives) related legislation with the EU Acquis has continued on both national and regional levels. On 9 July, a legal harmonization advisory meeting in North Macedonia was held – gathering key stakeholders to work on the draft of the new Law on Weapons and associated secondary legislation, while on 28 September the Regional Workshop on Harmonization of Legislation in the Field of SALW Control with the EU Acquis took place.
SALW Commission in North Macedonia received support in finalizing their new SALW Control Strategy and Action Plan.
Efforts towards integrating gender perspective in SALW legal frameworks advanced as well. Findings of the gender screening of SALW control legal framework, covering Brčko District, were presented to the SALW Coordination Board of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and gender screening findings and reports for BiH, Albania, Montenegro and Kosovo3 were being finalized. To ensure the sustainability of these legislative gender screening practices, the development of a Gender Screening Methodology has been initiated.
Strengthening capacities of criminal and border police services
Assessments of the capacities of criminal police services to counter illicit possession and trafficking of firearms continued at full speed, with field visits of expert teams having taken place in Serbia and North Macedonia.
Building on the previously conducted Needs Assessment Reports on Capacities of the Border Police Services in Countering Illicit Arms Trafficking, procurement processes for needed equipment have been initiated in Montenegro and Albania, while discussions on the same topic are ongoing with Serbia and North Macedonia.
SEESAC continued its collaboration with Frontex on the development of a tailor-made, regional Western Balkan’s version of Frontex’s Handbook for Border Guards and Customs, this time by supporting the document’s translation into BCMS and Macedonian. SEESAC has provided substantive inputs since the outset of the product’s development.
Physical Security and Stockpile Management
In September, 1,972 pieces of SALW, their parts and components were disposed of in Bosnia and Herzegovina, thus increasing public safety and security, and diminishing the risk of SALW proliferation.
Strides have been made towards goals set for improved stockpile security. Security upgrades of two evidence rooms in Montenegro, in Bar and Nikšić were completed, while the upgrade processes were pushed forward in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo.
Under the US-funded project that aims to enhance security and safety of “Duvanište” - a SALW storage location of the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia, supporting technical documentation for a tender for works as well as the procedure for the registration of the storage buildings’ location have been completed. Preparations for the planned PSSM course were coming to a close as well.
The Albania-based US-funded project is concerned with strenghtening SALW control security measures at Albanian MoD and MoI SALW and ammunition storage locations. During this period, tender documentation for the construction of a SALW laser-marking machine room, two SALW/evidence safekeeping rooms, and for the supply of SALW safekeeping racks/cabinets was finalized and tendering process for the procurement of works has significantly progressed.
Building the knowledge base
New incidents data is continuously uploaded on the Armed Violence Monitoring Platform and is increasingly utilized for a better understanding and response to emerging trends on the ground. Two In-Focus and one Quarterly editions of the armed violence monitor reports were released, capturing data and general trends of armed violence in SEE as well as taking a closer look at the firearm-related suicides and perpetrators of firearm incidents.
Capacity development and technical support to key institutions
SALW Commissions and Firearms Focal Points in 6 jurisdictions requested support with obtaining relevant IT equipment that would allow them to work more seamlessly in the pandemic conditions, as well as to improve their operational capacities, data collection, and reporting capacity in relation to the Roadmap implementation. Procurement of this equipment has been initiated and in part concluded.
Support was continued to the Kosovo Forensic Agency in their efforts to reduce the backlog of unregistered weapon legalization requests in their ballistic identification system. Also, SEESAC continued its support to the Department for Public Safety of Kosovo’s MoI - Weapons Registration Division in the process of legalization as well as tracing of these weapons.
Procurement of hardware equipment needed to establish nation-wide access to the Weapons Registry System in Moldova was initiated. The said hardware will help enhance the record keeping of firearms at the national level and subsequently their tracing.
As a way of advancing advocacy and communication capacities of members of SALW Commissions, media strategy development training was organized for the Deputy Head of the SALW Coordination Board of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Monitoring and coordination of the Western Balkans SALW Control Roadmap
SEESAC continued with the monitoring and coordination of the Western Balkans SALW Control Roadmap implementation in close cooperation with the EU, Germany and France. The 5th round of local Roadmap Coordination Meetings was wrapped up with a final meeting organized on 2 July by the SALW Coordination Board in Sarajevo. Immediately following, the 5th Regional Roadmap Coordination meeting took place on 6-7 July and was attended by almost 150 participants. The main findings from the consolidated 5th Regional Progress Reports were presented during the meeting.
Monitoring and coordination model exemplified by the Western Balkans Roadmap was presented by SEESAC during various meetings. Most notably, SEESAC was involved in the planning of the event and presented the progress made by the region at the 3rd High-level Meeting on the Implementation of the Specific Actions for South East Europe of the EU Action Plan on Firearms Trafficking 2020-2025, including the Implementation of the Roadmap for Comprehensive SALW Control in the Western Balkans, organized by the EU on 7 September.
Within the framework of the 7th Biennial Meeting of States to Consider the Implementation of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its Aspects, together with UNLIREC, SESAC also organized and presented at a side event titled “From the Western Balkans to the Caribbean – Regional Approaches to Arms Control.”
SEESAC continued to support the Steering Committee in coordination and monitoring of the implementation of projects through the Multi-Partner Trust Fund, currently wielding over US$12 million.
1Support of SEESAC for the Implementation of the Regional Roadmap on Combating Illicit Arms Trafficking in the Western Balkans project (EU Council Decision 2018/1788); and SEESAC Disarmament and Arms Control Activities in SEE Reducing the Threat of Illicit SALW and their Ammunition project (EU Council Decision 2019/2111).
2Support for Enhancing the Fight Against the Illegal Possession, Misuse and Trafficking of SALW in the Western Balkans, funded by the DG NEAR, and building on the work previously accomplished by SEESAC through the EU Council Decisions 2016/2356, 2018/1788 and 2019/2111.
3 For the United Nations Development Programme, references to Kosovo shall be understood to be in the context of Security Council resolution 1244 (1999). For the European Union, this designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.