SERBIA RESPONSE: DEVELOPING FOLLOW-UP DATA ON COESPU

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BELGRADE 000348 DEPT FOR EUR/SCE (P. PETERSON),PM/PPA (J. HANLEY) SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O.12958: N/A TAGS: MARR MASS IT PKO SR SUBJECT: SERBIA RESPONSE: DEVELOPING FOLLOW-UP DATA ON COESPU PARTICIPANTS BELGRADE 00000348 001.2 OF 002 ///////////ZFR - CANCEL THIS MESSAGE IN ITS ENTIRETY//////// THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN RETRANSMITTED UNDER A DIFFERENT MRN ///////////////////////////////////////////// ////////////// BELGRADE 00000348 002 OF 002 K) Graduates who did not pass the exam are advised to improve skills in particular areas that they did not pass (in most cases - the English test proficiency in part of writing reports). If they do so, we consider them for participation in UN missions. Up to now all candidates we sent to the UN missions passed all required mission tests. L) The criteria are not always the same for SAT exams. It depends on UN instructors who provide final exams, there are some varieties. M) COESPU training is currently the main training in the area of peacekeeping operations for Serbian police officers for the time being. We consider COESPU training very important when selecting our police officers to be deployed to UN missions. N) COESPU training would be a factor in the process of the selection of the commanders of potential FPU unit in the future. O) We consider that UN Certification (SAT) exam suffices. It has covered all necessary UN mission requirements (language proficiency, driving skills, shooting). We would be glad to host SAT team in our country in order to test more police officers who are currently interested in participating in peacekeeping operations. P) The curriculum at COESPU is under constant improvement in order to meet FPU/SPU needs (start with medical first aid and final exam are examples for such progress). Specific Information -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Interior Ministry responses to the specific information for Serbia follow. Answers are keyed to reftel question letters. A) There is a willingness to create and send a police contingent to UN missions. Unfortunately, the legislative framework for such an arrangement needs further development and improvement in cooperation with MFA of Serbia and other relevant institutions. Also, we have to consider the financial restraint that can be limiting in this kind of engagement as well as capacity of our police manpower available for such an arrangement. Additional information and support is needed to establish and eventually deploy FPU. In the meantime, we will continue to build necessary administrative capacity. B) We have enough instructors trained by COESPU to provide training in Serbia. Additional English language courses and organizing regular UN SAT test in Serbia would be appreciated. C) After completing MM17 and HL17 courses the number of trained police trainers from Serbia will rise to 88. Therefore, it would be useful to analyze and evaluate the training and development we completed so far. We would be happy to host MAT in September before the MM18 and HL18 courses begin. PEDERSON