BULGARIA: RSI PROPOSALS FOR CT FUNDING

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SOFIA 000076 EUR/NCE FOR TOM YEAGER S/CT MARC NORMAN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER BU SUBJECT: BULGARIA: RSI PROPOSALS FOR CT FUNDING REF: A) STATE 01148 B) 08 NICOSIA 00995 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The following cable is Embassy Sofia's response to reftel regarding Regional Security Initiative (RSI)counterterrorism (CT) proposals to be considered for funding. Embassy Sofia is seeking projects under the NADR Anti-Terrorism Assistance Funding (ATA) - DS/T/ATA training program and the Ambassadors Fund for Counterterrorism. ¶2. (SBU) Embassy Sofia has set forth the following nine proposals for funding under the NADR Anti-Terrorism Assistance Funding (ATA) - DS/T/ATA training program. Embassy Sofia would like to coordinate DS/T/ATA training programs with RSI Eastern Mediterranean partners, Embassy Athens and Embassy Nicosia, where similar training programs have been proposed. The three Embassies are willing to share costs through combined trips and joint training sessions (See Reftel B and Athens septel). --A. AIRPORT SECURITY MANAGEMENT (ASM): Ministry of Transportation, Civil Aviation Administrations. This nine-day course is designed for airport managers and security personnel responsible for airport police and security operations. Airport Security Management provides in-depth exposure to International Civil Air Organizations (ICAO) standards and recommended practices for effective civil aviation security programs. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) upgraded Bulgaria's Civil Aviation for Category 1 rating, allowing for future direct flights to the United States. This course would provide needed training for compliance with international aviation security standards. The embassy coordinating office and POC: POLEC, Kimberly Hawk, POLEC Officer, hawkkx@state.gov, +359 2 937-5218. --B. BORDER CONTROL MANAGEMENT (BCM): Bulgarian Ministry of Interior, Border Police; Description - A two-week course designed for mid-level to senior level border control managers with operational responsibility for land border ports-of-entry. Bulgaria is a transit country for contraband, drugs, cigarettes, human trafficking, forged documents and possibly terrorists bound for the European Union. This training provides officers with skills to understand, manage, and control border situations. The Embassy coordinating office and POC: LEGAT/RSO +359 2 937-5152/ +359 2 937-5316. --C. COMPUTER AWARENESS FOR PROSECUTORS: Bulgarian Prosecution Service; Description - A four-day seminar designed for judicial prosecutors who are responsible for coordination and prosecution of computer crime. Participants will explore the process by which digital evidence is seized and analyzed, and courtroom tactics unique to cyber terrorism cases. The seminar is non-technical in nature and no prior computer training is required. The class would provide much needed training in preparing and prosecuting computer related crimes in Bulgaria. The Embassy coordinating office is DOJ and Embassy POC: Tom Peebles, +359 2 937-5679. --D. CRISIS RESPONSE TEAM (CRT): Bulgarian Ministry of Interior, National Police Force. Designed for supervisors and tactical officers, the CRT provides hands-on outdoor firearms training, raid and assault simulations, and other standard crisis response skills for use in an urban environment. Participants develop the basic skills required to resolve high-risk terrorist confrontations using a variety of options and employing the minimum force necessary to protect human life. The training would enhance the National Police's crisis response to terrorist attacks. Embassy coordinating office and POC: LEGAT/RSO +359 2 937-5152/ +359 2 937-5316. --E. EXPLOSIVES INCIDENT COUNTERMEASURES (EIC): Bulgarian MOI and Ministry of Defense (MOD). This seven-week course provides entry level bomb disposal training for law enforcement and public safety participants. It is designed to train participants to search, identify, render safe, mitigate and dispose of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) and related materials. Digital X-ray technology, targeting and disablement techniques, as well as chemical and radiological detection, are also taught in this course through lecture, demonstrations, and practical exercises. The training would enhance Bulgarian bomb technicians' ability to detect, identify, and mitigate IEDs. Embassy coordinating office and POC: DAO/RSO/LEGAT +359 2 937-5451/ +359 2 937-5152/ +359 2 937-5316. --F. FRAUDULENT TRAVEL DOCUMENTS (FTD): Bulgarian Ministry of Interior, Border Police, and Ministry of Finance's Customs Service. This four-day course is designed for police officers, customs and immigration officers, forensic specialists, and training officers. Fraudulent Travel Documents uses lecture, discussion, and hands-on exercises to ensure that the Partner Nation has the training and resources to properly examine travel documents and detect fraudulent specimens. Participants will be able to quickly examine a wide-range of documents and prepare them for use in a criminal investigation. A pre-course Needs Assessment conducted prior to the presentation of this course will be used to propose an equipment grant for the Partner Nation. Bulgaria occupies a strategic position on the European Union's border as an entry point to Europe and lies along traditional smuggling routes. FTD training would enhance the Border and Police and Customs officials' ability to detect fraudulent documents, helping to prepare Bulgaria for eventual Schengen and Visa Waiver programs. Embassy coordinating office and POC: LEGAT/RSO +359 2 937-5152/ +359 2 937-5316. --G. MAJOR CASE MANAGEMENT (MCM): Bulgarian Ministry of Interior (MOI),National Police. This two-week course is designed for senior police supervisors, chiefs of investigations, and police investigators with oversight responsibilities for the investigation of major terrorist crimes. The training will enhance Bulgaria's National Police's ability to investigate arrest, prosecute, and convict terrorists in complex cases, especially focusing on inter-and intra-agency investigative procedures and task force formation. Embassy coordinating office and POC: LEGAT/RSO +359 2 937-5152/ +359 2 937-5316. --H. SENIOR CRISIS MANAGEMENT (SCM): Bulgarian MOI, National Police. This one-week course is designed for sub-cabinet level officers with the skills and authority required to implement and administer a national crisis management policy. Senior Crisis Management utilizes lectures and discussions led by current experts and leaders in the field of crisis management in a seminar-style approach. Group exercises, including a final crisis management exercise, give participants the opportunity to apply information gained in the seminar. Embassy coordinating office and POC: LEGAT/RSO +359 2 937-5152/ +359 2 937-5316. --I. SURVEILLANCE DETECTION (SD): Bulgarian MOI, National Police. This two-week course is designed for police command officers, police trainers, and operational personnel responsible for conducting antiterrorism surveillance detection operations. Bulgarian participants will develop the ability to detect hostile surveillance operations of high-risk personnel and facilities using non-technical techniques and skills. They will also learn to analyze data, develop a database, share information, and conduct route analysis and site surveys. Embassy coordinating office and POC: LEGAT/RSO +359 2 937-5152/ +359 2 937-5316. ¶3. (SBU) Embassy Sofia has set forth the following project proposal for funding under the Ambassadors Fund for Counterterrorism. --A. THE NEW MUSLIM PUBLIC IN BULGARIA: ENHANCING COMMUNICATION WITH CIVIL SOCIETY June 2009 - November 2010. Implementing Agency: Center for Intercultural Studies and Partnership (CISP). Embassy coordinating office and POC, POLEC and POC: Joslyn Mack-Wilson, Mack-WilsonJG@state.gov, +359 2 937-5276. Project Director: Dr. Simeon Evstatiev, Associate Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, Sofia University. Estimated total project cost: $50,000. This projects aims to enhance the ability of Bulgarian law enforcement to diminish the risk of terrorist activities by bridging social/cultural/political communication gaps between Muslims and Bulgarian society at large. Bulgarian Muslims are, for the most part, ethnically Turkish or Roma. But Arab funded mosques are being built, and "non-traditional" or "foreign" Islamic influences, such as Al-Jazeera, are growing. Some Bulgarian Muslims are influenced by foreign centers of Islamic propaganda, while others are questioning traditional religious authority and what have to date been their traditional representation in politics, culture and society. These "new" Bulgarian Muslims are perceived as at threat to social and political peace, which has lead to their marginalization and reluctance to be involved in the mainstream public space. Project activities are: --Identify the main credible voices and new faces in the emerging Muslim public sphere and empower them to develop socially positive discourses; --Enhance their communication skills and foster critical thinking among Muslim youth; --Provide Muslim youth with opportunities, especially through the internet (in particular the Project's blog network),to debate in an open way key pressing issues related to the role of Islam in a predominately secular society; --Change the general public's perceptions of Muslim social participation in the direction of more transparency and positive discourse. MCELDOWNEY