July 4, three Polish and three Finnish police representatives joined the EU police mission (EOROPOL) in Afghanistan's Ghor province. Together with other team members of EUPOL in Ghor they will participate in the City Police and Justice Project, designed to improve activity of local law enforcement agencies and coordinated by EU.
„EUPOL City Police and Justice Project is a part of a long-term Afghanistan National Police Forces Training Plan. As EUROPOL capabilities in Ghor increased, we plan to organize training on a larger scale in the province. We also hope that experience of different countries will allow us to effectively train specialists in different fields, "- said Vytaras Ratkevičius, EUROPOL Team Adviser for the training matters in Ghor province.
EUPOL Team operating in Ghor is based in the camp of Lithuanian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) and work in coordination with the PRT. Ghor EUPOL Team provides training, workshops for the province law institution representatives; advise them on law enforcement and security issues. Training is organized according six strategic trends of EUPOL mission - police management, criminal police capabilities, police activity based on intelligence information, anti-corruption activity, strengthening of cooperation between the police and other law enforcement agencies, as well as enforcement of human rights and gender equality principles in the law system.
During the latter half-year Ghor EUPOL Team has organized more than ten different trainings from one to few weeks duration.
Recently the Afghanistan Ghor province criminal police personnel were augmented by six women, so in the nearest future it is planned to conduct for them criminalist courses.
EUPOL Mission in Afghanistan was started in July 2007. Lithuanian police officers according various programs coordinated by the European Union have already been serving in Afghanistan since 2005. EUPOL Mission headquarters is located in the capital, Kabul, and EUPOL units - multinational teams - operate in thirteen provinces. EUPOL unit located in EUROPOL now consists of four Lithuanian, three Polish, and three Finish representatives.
PRT is a joint civilian and military mission, part of NATO International Security Assistance Force, ISAF. Lithuanian-led PRT in Ghor province was started in summer 2005. PRT camp is located in the capital of province, Chaghcharan. The main task of the mission is to help Afghanistan government to expand their influence in province, ensure security and create proper conditions for province reconstruction.
Lithuanian soldiers of the 11th rotation (PRT-11) are currently serving in Afghanistan; the majority of them make soldiers of Lithuanian Grand Duke Kestutis Motorized Infantry Battalion, deployed in Tauragė district. Kestutis Battalion is participating in PRT mission for the second time. Most of soldiers of the rotation have participation in international missions' experience: they served in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan.
In the Lithuanian-led PRT camp, located in Chaghcharan in addition to some 150 Lithuanian troops and civilians also serve soldiers and civilians from Denmark, Georgia, Japan, the United States of America, Croatia, Poland, Finland and Ukraine.
PRT-11 Public Information Officer, Captain Darius Toleikis
