Division 3 Project description

The new phase of the SEESAC project will build upon the basis of the achievements under Decision 2013/730/CFSP and in complementarity with Decision (CFSP) 2016/2356.

It will focus on three main areas, maintaining the holistic approach to tackling the threat posed by SALW in the region. Those three areas address the strategic/policy level as well as the operational aspects, thus directly assisting at all levels of SALW control, with a focus on: closely coordinating the regional approach for the implementation of the Roadmap; strengthening capacities for the harmonisation of arms-control legislation; and contributing to a better understanding of the capacities to counter illicit trafficking for Ukraine and Belarus.

In particular, the project will result in:

• coordinated implementation of the Roadmap for a sustainable solution to the illegal possession, misuse and trafficking of SALW/firearms and their ammunition in the Western Balkans;

• support provided for the full harmonisation of the Western Balkans authorities' arms-control legislation with the Union regulatory framework and other related international obligations, and standardisation across the region;

• countering illicit arms trafficking in the Western Balkans, the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus through capacity assessments and technical assistance to the law-enforcement and border-police authorities.

The project's strategy is grounded in SEESAC's unique approach of fostering confidence and cooperation in the region as a prerequisite for achieving concrete and measurable transformational change. In particular, at the regional level, different cooperation processes facilitated by SEESAC, involving both policy-makers and operational-level practitioners, have proven to be an essential ingredient in ensuring an enabling and competitive environment for knowledge transfer, expertise exchange and information-sharing. This has served not only to increase the capacities in the region, but more importantly to build confidence and establish direct cooperation among institutions and individual experts, which, among other things, enabled the development of the Roadmap. In turn, the atmosphere of professional trust enables national-level progress on issues tackled by the Roadmap. In addition, the regional cooperation approach has made the region more transparent and efficient in its efforts to control the arms trade, with the result that the South-East Europe partners are among the most transparent globally in their reporting on arms transfers. Therefore, the project will continue to foster regional cooperation as the essential enabling element for measurable results.

The project's geographic scope is the Western Balkans, with direct project beneficiaries being Albania, BiH, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. In addition, the project will seek to further the support to Eastern European countries dealing with the similar SALW control challenges, such as the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus, through the transfer of knowledge and experiences gained and best practices developed in the Western Balkans since 2001.