With regard to Mission’s efforts to contribute to development of a representative police service, from 17-21 February, the Mission, in co-operation with the Basic Police Training Centre (BPTC) in Sremska Kamenica, organized outreach sessions in the municipalities of Bujanovac, Vranje, Vladicin Han and Surdulica in south Serbia. The sessions provided youth from national minority communities with information about careers in the police service and guidance on the enrolment process of the BPTC. The Head of Vranje Police District welcomed the representatives of the Roma ethnic minority in Vranje and urged them to apply once the Call for Applications was announced. More than 60 participants interested in joining the police service took part in this event. From 4-20 June, the Mission together with the BPTC, organized an outreach session for interested members of national minority community applicants in the municipalities of Sremska Mitrovica, Sombor, Subotica, Kikinda, Zrenjanin, Pancevo and Bor. The session gathered more than 700 high school graduates who, for the first time, were granted the opportunity to attend a presentation given by the BPTC, local police officers and police cadets. The session was welcomed by the Mayor of Zrenjanin, the Deputy Mayor of Pancevo, and other local municipal representatives from Sombor, Subotica, Sremska Mitrovica and Bor. The main purpose of the outreach session was to present the BPTC programme as well as the selection process and criteria to minority applicants willing to apply for the next open call. From 27-29 May, the Mission, in co-operation with the BPTC, organized a regional conference to discuss and present best practices on minorities’ integration into the police services. The event gathered 22 representatives from police schools, training centres and police academies from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Germany, Montenegro and Romania. Participants exchanged information about minority integration in their respective countries: discussing strategies and actions to increase the number of ethnic minorities interested in joining police services. The Head of Mission opened the event alongside the State Secretary of the MoI, a representative of the German Embassy and the BPTC Director. BPTC representatives shared positive results from project activities supported by the Mission. The Mission intended to continue supporting regional co-operation among police professionals in 2014 with the wider participation of civil society and national minority representatives. From 25 to 27 November, the Mission and the MoI organized a study visit for a group of MoI representatives and civil society to Budapest. The visit aimed at sharing best practices on minority protection and integration into state institutions. The group, consisting of the Head of the Department for Organization, Prevention and Community Policing, two representatives of the BPTC and one representative of the MoI's Bureau for International Cooperation visited the Hungarian Police Academy and Budapest Metropolitan Police. The delegation also met the Fraternal Association of European Roma Law Enforcement Officers. The group was introduced to the Hungarian system for inclusion of Roma into the police service and gained better understanding of their recruitment procedures. Additionally, they exchanged best practices in the matters of minority and Roma inclusion with their Hungarian colleagues and had an opportunity to discuss obstacles Roma applicants faced when applying for positions in the police service. The Serbian police representatives expressed interest in becoming members of the Fraternal Association, while representatives of civil society established closer links with Roma associations in Hungary. Accountability Based on its self-evaluation, the Mission decided to make accountability a cross-cutting issue for all Mission units, working with the MoI and to mainstream accountability in their MoI projects. The accountability programme as such was closed at the end of 2012, acknowledging that the MoI had established an Internal Affairs Division enabling sufficient 85