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EU DIPLOMAT (PRETENDS TO BE) DETAINED BY BORDER POLICE
By Keti Sikharulidze
Messenger.ge
Tuesday, September 19, 2006, #177 (1197)
Torben Holtze gets hands on experience of newly reformed border police
Since spring 2006 the Border Police have undergone something of a
transformation. The ongoing reforms, supported by the international
community, have turned the former military border guards into a
civilian border police service, in line with European practice.
In the latest of these reforms, the Georgian Border Police Department
opened a new faculty at the Police Academy of the Ministry of Internal
Affairs on September 18.
"Before the end of this year, the Border Police will be fully
transformed into a contract-based professional body," said head the
faculty Giorgi Merabishvili.
"Our reform process is coming to its end, of course, training
professional staff is paramount in this reform," head of the Georgian
Border Police Badri Bitsadze told The Messenger.
The academy also signed contracts with international experts, who
will train future instructors from Border Police, these trainings
are scheduled to start this autumn.
"These instructors are skilled officers from border police forces,
who will train our border police staff," Kakha Khizanishvili,
director of the Police Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
told The Messenger.
The EU has contributed EUR 1 million to establish the faculty, out
of which EUR 150 000 was spent on computer equipment.
"The establishment of the border police faculty is a great step
forward...we are moving forward in our cooperation to establish the
Georgian Border Police, which will be up to EU standards...Georgian
borders will be guarded by professional police forces, which will
benefit everybody, except the criminals," said Torben Holtze, head
of the European Commission delegation to Georgia and Armenia.
The project is also developed with the help of the Finish Border
Police, who are considered one of the best and most modern forces in
the world.
"We are very glad to share our experience with our Georgian colleagues,
but we are all in this together...
We need more international cooperation and a basis for that is an
efficient border management system," Tehri Hakala, Ambassador of
Finland, told The Messenger.
At the end of the presentation the guests witnessed a truly
extraordinary event, which could have led to a major international
incident, had it not been a reconstruction: the head of the Delegation
of the European Commission was caught in action by border policemen
conducting an illegal border crossing, trafficking human beings and
illegal goods.
"I am not an expert and have never tried this before...
I think that training is going very well and when I look at American
movies it looks like that. But of course, in reality, it is probably
different, you have to start to show what it is about. They are getting
the idea of what to do in the field," Holtze told the journalists
after the reconstruction.
By Keti Sikharulidze
Messenger.ge
Tuesday, September 19, 2006, #177 (1197)
Torben Holtze gets hands on experience of newly reformed border police
Since spring 2006 the Border Police have undergone something of a
transformation. The ongoing reforms, supported by the international
community, have turned the former military border guards into a
civilian border police service, in line with European practice.
In the latest of these reforms, the Georgian Border Police Department
opened a new faculty at the Police Academy of the Ministry of Internal
Affairs on September 18.
"Before the end of this year, the Border Police will be fully
transformed into a contract-based professional body," said head the
faculty Giorgi Merabishvili.
"Our reform process is coming to its end, of course, training
professional staff is paramount in this reform," head of the Georgian
Border Police Badri Bitsadze told The Messenger.
The academy also signed contracts with international experts, who
will train future instructors from Border Police, these trainings
are scheduled to start this autumn.
"These instructors are skilled officers from border police forces,
who will train our border police staff," Kakha Khizanishvili,
director of the Police Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
told The Messenger.
The EU has contributed EUR 1 million to establish the faculty, out
of which EUR 150 000 was spent on computer equipment.
"The establishment of the border police faculty is a great step
forward...we are moving forward in our cooperation to establish the
Georgian Border Police, which will be up to EU standards...Georgian
borders will be guarded by professional police forces, which will
benefit everybody, except the criminals," said Torben Holtze, head
of the European Commission delegation to Georgia and Armenia.
The project is also developed with the help of the Finish Border
Police, who are considered one of the best and most modern forces in
the world.
"We are very glad to share our experience with our Georgian colleagues,
but we are all in this together...
We need more international cooperation and a basis for that is an
efficient border management system," Tehri Hakala, Ambassador of
Finland, told The Messenger.
At the end of the presentation the guests witnessed a truly
extraordinary event, which could have led to a major international
incident, had it not been a reconstruction: the head of the Delegation
of the European Commission was caught in action by border policemen
conducting an illegal border crossing, trafficking human beings and
illegal goods.
"I am not an expert and have never tried this before...
I think that training is going very well and when I look at American
movies it looks like that. But of course, in reality, it is probably
different, you have to start to show what it is about. They are getting
the idea of what to do in the field," Holtze told the journalists
after the reconstruction.