The three-day review conference, called "Lessons Learned from the Establishment of Border Security Systems", gathered 110 participants from 20 countries, including ministers of the interior and security from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.
The event was organised by the Croatian Interior Ministry in cooperation with the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF).
Addressing participants at the start of the conference, Croatian Interior Minister Ivica Kirin said that the conference would focus on the efficiency of international police cooperation and that Croatia was fully contributing to the cooperation through bilateral and multilateral actions.
The Interior Ministry and the police are undergoing a series of complex adjustments as part of Croatia's efforts to join Euro-Atlantic integration processes, and a special emphasis is put on the reform of the border police, Kirin said.
Annually, 90 million people pass through Croatia in transit, and it is necessary for Croatia to employ an additional 1,200 police officers and introduce up-to-date information technology, according to the minister.
The director of the Geneva-based DCAF centre, Theodor Winkler, said the present-day wold and modern challenges require intensified cross-border cooperation, notably in situations when the world is facing various forms of crimes and problems such as arms or drug smuggling or bird flu, which no country can tackle on its own.
The head of the Delegation of the European Commission in Zagreb, Vincent Degert, gave a talk about internal security as a key element for European integration.
He pointed out the example of the European Union and the Schengen regime as an acceptable model of cross-border security.
The conference will be a platform to present and discuss activities planned under the DCAF Border Security Programme in 2007.