POLICE-RELATED ACTIVITIES OF FIELD OPERATIONS SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE weapons smuggling. The training course was held as part of a project aimed at providing support to the decentralization of K-9 Unit activities within the country and to include the establishment of sub-units at border crossing points. Cross-Border Co-operation in Criminal Matters From 9-11 December, the Mission facilitated the green border observation training for  17 border police officers from North and South Regional Centres for Border Affairs. The overall aim of the project was to enhance the capacity of border police in detecting cross border crimes and irregular migration. Trainers from the Hungarian  Border Police Vocational School delivered the training. Green border protection, observation, detection of cross border organized criminal activity, best practice, health protection and human rights, as well as the recently built fence along the country’s southern border, were the issues discussed. Counter-Terrorism & VERLT Throughout 2015, the Mission focused on a VERLT project known locally as PERT. It is based on the EU CoPPRa (Community Policing and Prevention of Radicalisation) project, which started in 2010 under the Belgian EU Presidency. CoPPRa was created to develop a set of tools for first line response officers to prevent terrorist acts through the early detection of possible signals and indicators of radicalisation. PERT is a project tailored for the HC and is the first of its kind in the Balkan region. terrorist organizations, the methods of gathering evidence, and the importance of co-operation and co-ordination among institutions. From 9-13 November, the Mission, in co-operation with the Turkish National  Police, supported a five-day training course on methods used in countering terrorism, held at the Turkish Anti-Terrorism Academy  in Ankara. The course aimed to further educate experts from the MoIA on modern methods used by law enforcement agencies against terrorism, while strengthening the  capacity of trainees in detection and suppression of terrorist activities. As part of the training  programme, the participants also visited the Mobile Electronic System Integration Centre and the Crisis Management Centre in Ankara. Illicit Drugs and Chemical Precursors From 14-20 June, the Mission organized a training course for 15 police officials at the Training Centre for Combating Clandestine Laboratories (ITCCCL) in  Legionowo, Poland. The training sessions focused on enhancing the technical and tactical  capabilities of police officers to combat illegal drug trafficking. The course also  covered the topic of detecting synthetic and semi-synthetic illegal drugs.  The project successfully achieved: % Setting up a working group consisting of Counter Intelligence and Uniform Police; % Developing a common curriculum for a training course that teaches first line officers on how to use the “pocket guide” developed within the project, and on detecting and preventing violent extremism in their daily work; % Developing a Trainer’s Manual for ToT Trainers in support of the common curriculum; % Organizing a Train-the-Trainer course for 20 trainers, from 26-29 October; % Supporting a national conference, held in Skopje on 30 October, where the PERT project, pocket guide, manual and training course were publicly launched and the key aims of the project were promoted. From 14-18 September, the Mission, in co-operation with the Turkish National  Police, organized a training on Combating Financing of Terrorism for 16 members of the Administration for Security and Counterintelligence within the MoIA, Financial Police and Financial Intelligence Unit, Public Revenue Office, and Customs Administration. The training focused on detecting the financial resources of 87