problem of drug abusers who commit crimes. Police investigators were trained in interviewing techniques to help them better motivate drug abusers to accept the rehabilitation process. From 7-8 July, the Mission facilitated the participation of Montenegrin police officials at the conference “Combating the Threat of Illicit Drugs and Strengthening Control of Precursor Chemicals” in Vienna (see also chapter 2). Border Policing Within the framework of the implementation of the Integrated Border Management (IBM) strategy, the Mission focused on enhancing regional cross-border co-operation between the border police sectors of Montenegro and Albania, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), and Montenegro and Serbia. On 23 March, the Mission, in co-operation with the OSCE Presence in Albania facilitated a meeting between the Montenegrin Border Police delegation and the Albanian Border Police delegation. The meeting took place in Shkodra-Albania and was organized in line with the OSCE Border Security and Management Concept (BSMC). At the meeting delegations focused on: the implementation of existing agreements between Albania and Montenegro; bilateral co-operation at the local level; the exchange of information; joint activities and problems encountered; problems and good practices at the Joint Border Crossing Points (JBCP) in Muriqan/Sukobin; Skadar Lake border surveillance and joint patrolling at the green and blue borders. Special attention was paid as well to joint incident investigation, information exchange and ways for improving co-operation. On 27 July, the Mission facilitated a regional cross-border meeting between Montenegrin and Albanian Border Police delegations in Plav, Montenegro. The meeting addressed various aspects, such as: bilateral co-operation at the local level, how co-operation was working and how it could be improved in line with the IBM of the countries; green border patrolling; joint incident investigations information exchange and ways for improvement; points of contacts and their maintenance; improvement of communication across the border, especially in case of emergencies; possible ways for making the passage of people and goods more efficient during the summer season; and co-operation in dealing with illegal migrants and returnees (proper identification, handling and referral). In co-operation with the OSCE Presence in Albania, the Mission facilitated a joint training between Montenegrin Border Police officers and their Albanian counterparts on 16 and 17 September in Ulcinj, Montenegro and Shkodra, Albania. The training focused on the procedures for the functioning of joint BCP Muriqan-Sukobin; procedures applied for checking passengers, vehicles, busses, trucks and goods; checking of passenger’s documentation; security elements and cases of forgery with respect to Albanian and Montenegrin passports, existing entry/exit regimes in both countries; required documents to enter Albania and Montenegro; procedures applied when a person is disabled to enter/exit in any of two countries; procedures applied when smuggled goods or narcotics are identified. The trainers used were high and mid-level managers. At the meeting representatives of customs administrations of both countries presented examples of existing co-operation, problems and lesson learned at the Joint Border Crossing Points Muriqan/Sukobin. On 24 December, the Mission, in co-operation with the Police Directorate facilitated a crossborder co-operation meeting between Montenegrin Border Police officers and their Serbian counterparts. The meeting was organized in line with the OSCE BSMC. The meeting focused on: bilateral co-operation at the local level in terms of Integrated Border Management (IBM), how co-operation worked and how it could be improved in line with the IBM of the countries; 52

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