At the Academy was held the sixth meeting of the Steering Committee

Vushtrri, 13 September 2017 –  Today, at the Kosovo Academy for Public Safety (KAPS), the Steering Committee of the Twinning Project held its sixth meeting, where it was estimated that this project is being successfully implemented.

The meeting was attended by General Director of Kosovo Academy for Public Safety Ismail Smakiqi, Rafael Nievergelt, Representative of the European Union Office in Kosovo, Director of OSCE Department of Justice and Public Safety Ake Roghe, Head of Twinning Project Krista Haak, Ritva Vahakoski project expert, Avni Gashi expert on Quality Assurance at the National Qualifications Authority, Agron Rukiqi from Kosovo Police, Adem Shala from Kosovo Probation Service, Bujar Mustafa from Kosovo Police Inspectorate, Bashkim Arifi from Kosovo Customs and Bahri Pajaziti by the Emergency Management Agency.


General Director of the Academy Ismail Smakiqi welcoming the participants he spoke of the current processes that the Academy is going through as the process of student admission, preparation of the handbook of the internship, the preparations to be held regarding the application of the Academy to the National Qualifications Authority, for the validation of professional programs etc.
Smakiqi also spoke about the meeting he had with the new Minister of Internal Affairs, where at the same time he has informed him about the current developments in the Academy, expressing his will for cooperation in the realization of important processes that are expected by KAPS.
Director Smakiqi also mentioned the accreditation of the Academy, thanking all the actors involved in this very important process for the safety agencies as well as the KAPS itself. He also mentioned the positive assessments given by the accreditation experts, where thanks to the joint work and engagement have recommended the accreditation of the three-year bachelor's program and the Academy as institution for five years.

Smakiqi also spoke about his visit to Finland, which deals with the continuation of cooperation with the Finnish Police Academy. He also said that we expect a finalization of the cooperation agreement with the Macedonian Police Academy.

"At the initiative of the Academy we are hoping that next year we will have apart from these bilateral agreements a multilateral agreement with the four agencies, we have proposed and are awaiting the completion of the joint draft of this agreement to form a core of joint police academies aims to cooperate especially in the field of higher education training and research ", said Smakiqi.



The Head of the Twinning Project Krista Haak during the reporting on the progress of the twinning project said that in the preparation of the bachelor program was marked a great achievement where according to her this is an example of cooperation between the project experts and the staff of the Academy.

"The academy is moving towards achieving the goal of being a well-known agency for research and public safety studies ", said Haak, saying that in this three month  has been made progress.

"Work is under way and still continues, all processes have come to an end and we are in the final stage", said Haak.

Meanwhile, Rafael Nievergelt, representative of the European Union Office in Kosovo, said that the Academy is a good example for all other institutions.

"I am very happy to have heard several times about the success achieved with regard to accreditation, and I would like to congratulate you all for joint engagement and I am glad that has resulted positive", said Nievergelt, saying that whatever happens around we have an institution such as the Academy which has reached the right level to train people working in the field to do their job better. "We have an excellent institution and as a result we will have well-trained people", said Nievergelt.


Director of the OSCE Department of Public Order and Safety Ake Roghe congratulated the Academy for the success achieved at the same time he estimated that the Academy is moving to realizing the programs faster than planned


"You do a lot of good work, we have the pleasure to support you", Roghe said. Roghe mentioned the planning they have for the coming year where several study visits will be carried out in the police academies in Sweden and Norway. 

Meanwhile, Ritva Vahakoski presented three months report of the twinning project in May- July where he reported on the progress of components.


Meanwhile, representatives of Public Safety Agencies assessed that the twinning project is very important for safety agencies. They also provided further support and cooperation.