POLICE-RELATED ACTIVITIES OF FIELD OPERATIONS SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE Serbia opened two negotiating chapters with the EU on accession: Chapter 23 on judiciary and fundamental rights and Chapter 24 on justice, freedom and security. The MoI was appointed as a leader in the implementation of the Action Plan for Chapter 24. In the area of combating organized crime, the Mission supported the MoI in developing its first regional Serious and Organized Crime Threat Assessment (SOCTA) in co-operation with the Ministries of Interior of Montenegro and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. It also continued to work closely with the Prosecution Office for Organized Crime to compete the installation of a new case IT system that increased the capacity to analyse complex investigative data. Furthermore, the Mission facilitated the signing of a declaration of intent on how to intensify co-operation in cases of organized crime and terrorism between eleven prosecution services from the Western Balkans and the EU. Twelve police officers, who became the first public servants to be certified as economic crime forensic experts thanks to the Mission’s previous project on financial investigations, conducted initial specialized training for future economic crime investigators. The Mission facilitated different meetings between the police services of Serbia, Hungary and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to increase co-operation on cases of smuggling of human beings, and donated two vehicles and IT equipment to the new Serbian Task Force to fight smuggling of human beings in order to enhance their investigating capacities. The Mission also engaged in the area of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) by supporting the MoI in conducting an evaluation of the 2010-2015 National Strategy on Small Arms and Light Weapons, and continued to support the Serbian inter-ministerial working group tasked with the development of the Counter–Terrorism Strategy and its action plan. In the area of community policing, the Mission continued to focus on three key activities: crime prevention, working with minorities and socially vulnerable groups, and promoting police-public partnerships through Municipal Safety Councils (MSC). Local safety stakeholders are now the primary actors in the prevention of domestic violence and combating violence against women. The Mission continued to support the implementation of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, by advocating and recalling its importance with all governmental institutions and facilitating the work of the inter-ministerial group in charge of the development of the new national action plan. The PAD further developed co-operation with other international organizations, including DCAF and UNODC, partners at the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) Secretariat, the Southeast European Law Enforcement Center (SELEC) and Europol, along with academic institutions such as the University of Milan and University of the Ministry of Interior of the Russian Federation in St. Petersburg, to implement a series of joint activities in the areas of police accountability, combating illicit drugs, organized crime and SOCTA. 79