The bilingual project for the Kosovo Police was completed at the Academy

Vushtrri, March 10, 2022– At the Kosovo Academy for Public Safety (KAPS) today was completed the bilingual project for the Kosovo Police, a project which aims to advance communication between police officers and communities living in Kosovo. The project in question is funded by the Government of Switzerland. 

The completion of this project was attended by the Deputy Director General of the Kosovo Academy for Public Safety Kastriot Jashari, the Ambassador of the Swiss Embassy in Kosovo Thomas Kolly, the Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo Michael Davenport, the Commissioner for Languages in the Government of Kosovo Slaviša Mladenov, Deputy Director of Kosovo Police Dejan Jankovic and other local and international representatives. 

Deputy Director General of the Kosovo Academy for Public Safety Kastriot Jashari, welcoming the participants, praised the implementation of the project for bilingualism implemented by the OSCE and funded by the Embassy of Switzerland. 

Deputy Director Jashari said that the bilingual project will contribute to the work of each Kosovo Police officer.  "It is an honor to participate in this ceremony for such an important issue as the use of bilingualism, this project is very important not only for the Academy, but also for the whole of Kosovo in general", said Jashari. 

On this occasion, Deputy Director Jashari thanked the OSCE Mission for its continued assistance to the Academy.  "The OSCE Mission has never stopped supporting the Academy in many areas and dimensions in general, but also in terms of promoting the use of bilingualism during the implementation of its legal mandate, in particular by donating and conducting numerous trainings. in this field ", said Jashari. 

The Deputy Director of the Kosovo Police, Dejan Jankovic, also thanked the OSCE Mission in Kosovo for the implementation of this project and for the continuous assistance they are providing to the Kosovo Police.  "I am honored to participate in the official ceremony organized by the OSCE Mission in Kosovo for the handing over of bilingual tools to the Kosovo Police. This follows the completion of eight seminars held in close collaboration with the Office of the Language Commissioner, which introduced bilingual tools, including a bilingual manual for new cadets and a multilingual mobile platform for more than 160 traffic supervisors and patrolling officers by each regional directorate ", said Jankovic, saying that these tools will strengthen the communication between the officers and the communities to whom they serve. 

The Commissioner for Languages in the Government of Kosovo, Slaviša Mladenovi, presented the tools such as the manual and the bilingual application for the Kosovo Police. The Criminal Code and the Law on Public Order were also introduced, which are part of the mobile platform. Commissioner Mladenov considers that these tools are very important and a good opportunity to build and strengthen trust between the police and communities. 

Whereas, the Ambassador of the Swiss Embassy in Kosovo, Thomas Kolly, taking Switzerland as an example in which several languages are spoken, he said that the realization of this project creates trust between the Kosovo Police and the communities.  Ambassador Kolly further said that the implementation of the bilingual project made the communities feel equal. 

Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo Michael Davenport congratulated the Deputy Director of the Academy Kastriot Jashari for his new position, while expressing his readiness for further cooperation.  Davenport considers that the investment of the Swiss Government in this project is very important for communities living in Kosovo.  

OSCE Ambassador Davenport said that this project will greatly facilitate the work of the Kosovo Police, thus raising the level of communication with communities. 

Otherwise, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe with a mission in Kosovo has conducted eight workshops where bilingual communication tools were presented in order to advance communication between the Kosovo Police and communities living in Kosovo..