On April 3rd, this year, specialists from various units of the Romanian Police participated in a conference regarding the achievements within the PDP 2 project - "Strengthening national capacities in the field of international police cooperation and combating crime."

The project is funded through the Internal Affairs Programme - the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014-2021 and aims to improve cooperation between the Romanian Police and the Norwegian National Police to enhance the effectiveness of combating itinerant crime, human trafficking, money laundering, and economic and financial crime.

Developed on multiple fronts, the project facilitated valuable exchanges of expertise, significant acquisitions to enhance Romanian Police capabilities, and the strengthening of partnerships to streamline the policing system.

In the realm of combating itinerant crime and human trafficking, workshops/seminars were held both in Norway and Romania. Expertise transfer was facilitated through exchange visits to France, Italy, the Czech Republic, or Denmark by Romanian police officers specialized in criminal investigations and combating organized crime. Additionally, as part of the partnership, Romanian officers were seconded to Norway for operational support in investigative activities, while Norwegian police officers were seconded to our country.

In the field of financial investigations and combating economic crime, professional training activities were carried out. A course conducted by the Bucharest University of Economic Studies, a partner in the project, included a component for training trainers in the field. Furthermore, workshops, seminars, and exchange visits on economic crime topics were organized in Spain, Germany, and the Republic of Moldova. Together with Norwegian partners, activities to combat online money laundering were conducted both in Romania and Norway.

To strengthen action capabilities, the Romanian Police made several acquisitions under the project funded by the Norwegian Financial Mechanism, including mobile systems (workstations, laptops, tablets, software, security solutions), vehicles, and night vision mobile cameras, among others.

The project supports priority areas of crime fighting defined by Europol and complements the multi-annual strategic plan, as well as the initiatives of the European multidisciplinary platform EMPACT.

Regarding the prevention of human trafficking carried out by the National Agency against Trafficking in Persons (A.N.I.T.P.), efforts aimed to cover a wide spectrum of forms of trafficking (sexual exploitation, labor exploitation, forced begging, child pornography), with a unified message focusing on the risks and implications associated with human trafficking.

Through an extensive online campaign, Romanian citizens were informed about the risks of accepting offers that could lead them into situations of exploitation. As part of the A.N.I.T.P. campaign, anti-trafficking messages were conveyed in collaboration with three public figures known as content creators.

Furthermore, with the funds provided, the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) was modernized. Hardware and software updates led to a significant increase in the system's potential for fingerprint data examination. Additionally, ballistic analysis methods at the central level of the Romanian Police were streamlined.

Within the project, from June to December 2023, nearly 500 Romanian police officers participated in specialized courses on combating economic and financial crime, money laundering, and human trafficking, conducted at the "Nicolae Golescu" Police Training and Improvement Center in Slatina.

All actions undertaken within the project aimed to increase trust in law enforcement authorities and strengthen international police cooperation. This initiative is a testament to working together for a competitive Europe, in alignment with the European Economic Area's values and goals.

The project "Strengthening national capacities in the field of international police cooperation and combating crime - PDP 2" has a total budget of 8,941,177 euros, of which 7.6 million euros represent external funding.

– PDP2 –

Strengthening national capacities in the area of international police cooperation and combating crime

Working together for a competitive Europe

Project funded through Norway Grants 2014-2021