The project aims to make Croatian police capable of dealing with crime and terrorism through the further development of the role and capabilities of the Crime and Investigation Analysis Department (CIAD) and its cooperation with other institutions.
The first stage of this twinning project will last 15 months and will be financed by the European Union with two million euros from its CARDS programme. An additional two million euros will be provided from the CARDS programme for the implementation of the second stage.
The project will be jointly implemented by the Criminal Police Department of the Croatian Interior Ministry and the British Home Office and its National Crime and Intelligence Service (NCIS).
The launch ceremony in Zagreb was attended by Croatian Interior Minister Ivica Kirin, Chief of Police Ivica Franic, the Head of Operations of the European Commission Delegation, Constantino Longares Barrio, and the project leader for Great Britain, Geoffrey Sonnenberg.
Sonnenberg said that the joint project was a continuation of the process of cooperation between the two countries. Organised crime poses a great threat to security, and Croatia and Great Britain have always provided assistance in the fight against that evil, he added.