At the Academy enclosed Twining Project Seminar

Vushtrri,  22 January 2019 - At the Kosovo Academy for Public Safety (KAPS) was held today the closing seminar of the twinning project "Further support education in public security in Kosovo", whose goal was to strengthen education in the field of public safety.
 
General Director of Kosovo Academy for Public Safety, Ismail Smakiqi, said today that the project is not over, but an era of creation of the Academy has been completed, which is accredited by local and international authorities and capable of fulfilling its mission, approved by the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo with the approval of the Law on Kosovo Academy for Public Safety.

"Having completed the second twinning project, the Academy opened a new era. The Academy is opening the era of a new vision, which is linked to the next strategic period of the Academy for 2019-2022, "said Smakiqi, stated also that the case of the Academy's development is the story of formation, completion of human capacities and developments of the  the Public Safety  Agencies that deal with law enforcement in Kosovo.

"Through the first twinning project, the Academy and the agencies have established a four-year bachelor study program in the field of public safety accredited by the Kosovo Accreditation Agency in 2014, while in 2017 this program was re-accredited until 2022 and the Academy has gained institutional accreditation for five years, while the second project that we are completing is also a European Union project from IPA 2014 - Annual Program for Kosovo, Instrument for  Pre-Accession Assistance 2014-2020 that is implemented also from the member states Finland and Estonia, " stated Smakiqi. 

He praised that the 2018 for the Academy was an excellent year that gained national accreditation from the National Qualifications Authority and international accreditation by the International Association of  Directors and Law Enforcement Standard Training (IADLEST) of the United States.

Thanking all those actors who worked and contributed to the realization of the twinning project, as well as international partners OSCE and ICITAP, director Smakiqi presented a next vision of the Development Strategy of the Kosovo Academy for Public Safety for the period 2019-2022.

Smakiqi said that in 2022 the Academy will be a key factor in creating security in the Republic of Kosovo by providing a high level of competencies for law enforcement authorities to respond to the various challenges. While Director Smakiqi said that in 2023, the Academy will be the Center of Excellence for Public Safety in Kosovo.

"Among other the important place will held the strategic objectives, the creation of a  master study program and the functioning of the Research Institute for the purpose of training and education," stated Smakiqi.

Director Smakiqi thanked 27 officials and experts from Public Safety Agencies, 26 experts from Finland and Estonia as well as 43 leaders, senior officials and officials from the Kosovo Academy for Public Safety, to whom was given acknowledgments by the Academy for their work and dedication.

Also director Smakiqi said that during these years of the development of twinning projects as well as the overall work at the Academy, the Academy staff has learned a lot.

"We believe we have created and cultivate our culture, the culture of the Academy, which besides being based on codes of ethics and obligations of conduct within legal frameworks, the staff of the Academy works every day to improve itself by analyzing the taken decisions, actions based on these decisions and without ever being a slave of fear for possible mistakes during our work ", said Smakiqi.


While Krista Haak, the project leader from the member states, said the future of education in the field of public security is in the hands of the Academy. Haak said the twinning project has been education for the future.

"We all know that good education offers a better future for individuals and for the community, and this has been the result of a twinning project over the past seven years," said Haak and also stated that the latest project has had a purpose to strengthen the law by offering high quality of education for public safety, research and development in Kosovo. Haak said that the quality of all public security curricula has been achieved with the breadth required by national and international approval in both the fields of the program and the institutional. 

"The Academy's vision created in 2014 in the first project says that in 2020 the Academy will be recognized by national and international collaborators as a first-line institution for all levels of education in the field of public safety. In 2019, this itself has begun, I'm sure the results of the second project will support the Academy to achieve the ambitious goal that the Academy 2020 will be as a center of excellence in education in the field of public security in Kosovo, "said Haak  and also stated that the success was only possible through cooperation such as the collaboration between the Academy, the agencies and the project.

While Deputy Prime Minister Enver Hoxhaj initially on behalf of the Kosovo Government congratulated the Director General of the Academy Ismail Smakiqi for the great work he has done. Hoxhaj highly appreciated the realization of the twinning project.

"This project is one of the largest projects of the Academy supported by the European Union in Kosovo," stated Hoxhaj. He assessed that the Security Institutions; such as the Kosovo Police, Kosovo Customs, the KSF as the Army are the most successful institutions that Kosovo has had in these past twenty years.
 

"This achievement in  professional development, in capacity building, institution-building would not be possible without the genuine support of many international partners in the last 20 years. I am here to provide unreserved support from the government to further strengthen the capacities in the field of training, higher education in policy implementation and in the development of public security capacities, you are our pride and I invite you to continue with the work that you have done so far, "said Hoxhaj.
 

Deputy Prime Minister Hoxhaj said that everything is equal to security, foreign policy, economy, education development and the well-being of citizens, so he said that the project in question and the work done by the Academy should be seen in a much wider context. Hoxhaj  further stated that the Kosovo is interested in becoming the example for local and International security agencies..

 

Meanwhile Hoxhaj invites European, US and international partners to support the Academy even further. "Year 2019 may be a historic year for Kosovo and the achievement of a agreement with Serbia through mutual recognition and membership in the UN, but not any terms or any agreement but only an agreed agreement. After 10 years of independence we need to conclude a state building that is important for Kosovo and its citizens, "said Hoxhaj. 

While Isa Xhemajli, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, said the Academy is already well-known for its very good and noble work. 

"Thank you for the work that more and more prepares cadres in the field of security in our country, and this is achieved by your work and with the support of international partners," said Xhemajli, saying also that the Academy is a very important institution for the state in the field of public safety. 

"There is no doubt that this institution functioning within the Ministry of Internal Affairs is already known for its noble work, for the advanced education of employees that touch the security sphere," said Xhemajli who also stated that we are already in a good way that in the near future the the Academy to provide services and to receive persons for education even for those who are not employee of the security institutions 

"This will help the society to have people who are ready to respond to security challenges in Kosovo. The fact that we have twinning with states like Finland shows our commitment to an educational institution that cultivates high values in the field of education, stated Xhemajli by also saying that the Ministry of Internal Affairs will further support the Academy.

Liug Brusa, Head of the European Union Office Cooperation Office in Kosovo, was impressed with the work done at the Academy, the number of trainings held and the number of students attending the Academy. "Investing in the Academy has been a very important step, bringing the best experiences from Finland and Estonia," Brusa said, saying that we will continue to invest in various fields of education in the coming years.

Finland's Ambassador to Kosovo Pia Stjernvall congratulated the Academy for her achievements as she thanked the Academy, Finland and Estonia for their cooperation that the project was successfully completed. "Police, public security officials are the face of the Academy, and this is very important for the Academy. The government can be very proud of the Academy, "said Stjernvall.

During the last twinning project meeting, a further cooperation agreement was signed in the field of security between the Kosovo Academy for Public Safety, the University Police College of Finland and the Academy of Security Sciences in Estonia


In the closing meeting of this project, the local and international experts who were involved in the implementation of the project also gave a positive assessment. Otherwise in the end were awarded gratitude for which workers who contributed to the realization of the twinning project.

In this meeting participated Deputy Prime Minister Enver Hoxhaj, Isa Xhemajli Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, General Director of the Kosovo Academy for Public Safety Ismail Smakiqi, Rector of the University of Pristina Marjan Dema, Rector of the University of Mitrovica Alush Musaj, Luigi Brusa Head of Cooperation Section at the European Union Office in Kosovo, Rafael Nievergelt from the European Union Office in Kosovo, Karl Åke Roghe Director of the Department of Security and  Public Safety in the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Finnish Ambassador Pia Stjernvall, Bejtush Gashi Dean of the Faculty of Public Safety, Xhafer Tahiri, Mayor of Vushtrri/Vučitrn, Miradije Kelmendi Chief Executive of the Kosovo Police Inspectorate, Nehat Thaqi General Director of the Correctional Service of Kosovo, Taibe Canolli Director of Human Resources Department at Kosovo Police, Shefki Abdullahu Deputy General Director of the Emergency Management Agency, Valdete Krasniqi Advisor in the Cabinet of General Director of Kosovo Customs, Krista Haak, Member States’ Project Leader, Ritva Vähäkoski Resident Twinning Advisor, Kimmo Himberg Director of the Police University College (POLAMK) of Finland, Marek Link,  Acting Rector of the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences, Hannu Kiehelä Director of Training Institute of Prison and Probation Services in Finland, Markku Rissanen senior lecturer at JAMK University of Applied Sciences in Finland, etc.