On 9 and 10 December the Presence in Albania organized two workshops with border police officers from Korça and Gjirokastra regions, on the Greek border. The recent refugee crisis that has affected the Balkans over the past few months prompted this session on contingency planning in case of a possible shift in the migration route towards Albania.
Some of the topics discussed were prescreening procedures, profiling of suspected foreign terrorist fighters, detecting criminal offences and dealing with transnational threats related to the migrant crisis. Considering the possibility that foreign terrorist fighters could be posing as refugees, the border police officers agreed that increased co-operation with other law enforcement structures, including the anti-terror unit and the national intelligence service, were needed.
The Presence will hold a similar workshop on 23 December with border police officers from the Shkodra region, on the Montenegrin border.