4.6 Mission to Skopje strategic goal for 2018-2019. From 24 to 28 September, the Mission, in co-operation with the Turkish National Police, organized a training course on “Combating Terrorist Organizations Abusing Religion” for 20 counter-terrorism officers from the MoI, with the aim to enhance the capacities of law enforcement officers in combating religiously motivated terrorist organizations. The course was organized in the framework of the National Counter-Terrorism Strategy, which identified advanced and specialized training needs for law enforcement officers as a strategic priority. This activity also aimed at enabling course participants to define religiously motivated terrorist organizations and effectively counter them in line with international best practices. The course participants were trained specifically in the area of identifying terrorist individuals and movements, defining terrorist ideologies and radicalization processes, understanding recruitment and propaganda methods, and effectively countering terrorist organizations abusing religion. The training results will have a long-term impact on public safety. From 16 to 18 October, the Mission, together with the MoI, organized the third international conference on “Management and Negotiations in Crisis Situations Caused by VERLT”. In total, 60 participants, including police officers and academics from Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Romania and the host country, as well as representatives from the Kosovo institutions, discussed best practices in P/C VERLT at the conference. The specific focus of this year’s conference was the profiling and identification of returning FTFs. The international character of the conference largely contributed to the enhancement of the regional security structures’ capacities for profiling and identifying returning FTFs, while at the same time providing a platform for sharing experiences, lessons learned and ideas with colleagues across the region, helping to develop close working relationships with each other. On 24 October, the Mission organized a one-day workshop in Lipkovo municipality to provide religious leaders with information about early-warning indicators of radicalization and violent extremism. The workshop focused on providing the participants with a good understanding of the Mission’s work on P/C VERLT in the country. At the same time, it explored the role of religious leaders in providing support for a more inclusive and participatory environment for young people in society. The workshop included police officers and managerial staff from the SIA Kumanovo, Imams from villages in the Lipkovo municipality, religious leaders from the central Mufti’s office in Kumanovo, representatives of the National Committee for CVE, municipal representatives, members of the local community and of Local Councils, 102 young people working in the NGO sector, as well as Mission representatives. In total, 35 participants took part in the event, discussed social cohesion opportunities for youth through the educational system, and looked at how religious leaders and family members can impact the process of social inclusion. From 13 November to 18 December, the Mission, together with the National Committee on Countering Violent Extremism and Counter Terrorism (NCCVECT) and the MoI, organized eight one-day working meetings on the implementation of the National Strategy for CVE in the eight SIAs. In total, 85 delegates took part in the event, including mayors, their staff and police station commanders, to discuss the opportunities and challenges of the implementation of the National Strategy in their respective municipalities. The municipalities were also encouraged to re-activate the LPCs, as envisaged in the National Strategy for CVE. From 26 to 30 November, the PDU organized a training programme for ten MoI staff in Ankara on the “Investigation process in Counter-terrorism”, together with the Turkish National Police. Participants were trained on the phases of the investigation process, evidence collecting, interviewing methods and the tactical search of premises and individuals in counter-terrorism cases. This training activity was organized in line with the implementation of the National Strategy on CT and its Action Plan. Illicit Drugs and Chemical Precursors On 16 and 17 April, a workshop on the “Identification of New Psychoactive Substances and Combating Clandestine Laboratories” was organized. The event was held in collaboration with the Italian Embassy in Skopje and the MoI. Three experts from the Italian Financial Guard (“Guardia di Finanza”) led the workshop. The event touched on identification methods of NPS, precursors used for its production, investigation techniques in combating the trafficking and production of NPS, and the combat of clandestine laboratories and synthetic drugs. In total, 36 participants attended the workshop, representing the MoI, the Security and Counter-Intelligence Agency and the Customs Administration. Trafficking in Human Beings & Migrationrelated Crime From 13 March to 12 December, the Mission organized four roundtable discussions to develop an Overarching National Contingency Plan on Migration. The discussion brought together 35 representatives from different state institutions, national agencies, international organizations and NGOs, including five State Secretaries from different Ministries. • On 16 May, at the second roundtable meeting, experts