Imagine this scenario, Albanian police spot a minivan smuggling ’migrants’. They immediately start pursuing the van but they can see that the driver is heading for the Montenegrin border. The van crosses the border and the Albanian police must stop pursuit. They cannot cross the border and the smugglers get away; this is the reality that the Hot Pursuit project is fighting against.
The experienced criminal often considers the green (land) border the least challenging to cross. If spotted, police from the country of origin cannot continue the chase once the criminal crosses into the bordering country.
In 2015, the Presence facilitated the establishment of a working group comprised of experts from border police, criminal police, public order, the INTERPOL office, as well as legal experts and prosecutors, tasked with drafting and negotiating Hot Pursuit (HP) Protocols between Albania and its neighbouring countries.
Hot Pursuit is the latest project of the OSCE Presence in Albania (PiA) within its mandate to contributing to addressing Albania’s border management concerns since 2004, Mira Xhamallati, National Border Management Officer of the OSCE Presence in Albania explains.
Mira explains that: “the Protocols’ terms were based on international practices and police operation simulations to have a complete view of what would work best in the regional context.”
Under the motto “crime does not recognize borders, police shouldn’t either”, the HP Protocols enable border police of the countries involved to pursue and apprehend suspected criminals, breaking through borders, resulting in stronger tackling of organized crime and human and drug trafficking.
While the signing of a Protocol with Montenegro is still pending, the border police of Albania and Montenegro held a simulation exercise on 16 and 17 October 2019. “The exercise focused on irregular migration, an issue of growing concern in the region in the last years,” Mira says.
Mira explains that: “the Protocols’ terms were based on international practices and police operation simulations to have a complete view of what would work best in the regional context.”
Under the motto “crime does not recognize borders, police shouldn’t either”, the HP Protocols enable border police of the countries involved to pursue and apprehend suspected criminals, breaking through borders, resulting in stronger tackling of organized crime and human and drug trafficking.
While the signing of a Protocol with Montenegro is still pending, the border police of Albania and Montenegro held a simulation exercise on 16 and 17 October 2019. “The exercise focused on irregular migration, an issue of growing concern in the region in the last years,” Mira says.
