Prishtinë, September 27, 2023

On September 27, 2023, in the Special Unit Camp “Vrella”, the General Director of Kosovo Police, Colonel Gazmend Hoxha, accompanied by the KP management, received as a donation the newly built dog training area for (K-9) Unit, which was submitted by the OSCE ambassador, mission in Kosovo Mr. Davenport. The ceremony of receiving the donation from the European Union was honoured by the presence of the ambassador of Germany Mr. Rohde, representatives of the European Union, France embassy as well as representative of local institutions.

The training area along with the specialized equipment for the K-9 Unit was made within the project “Support for Strengthening the Capacity of the KP K-9 Dog Unit for the Detection and Seizure of Small and Light Weapons, Ammunition and Explosives”, funded by the European Union, Germany, France and Norway

In this occasion the director of KP Mr. Hoxha expressed a special thank for the OSCE mission in Kosovo as well as the other partners for the financial support of the project, such as: European Union, Germany embassy, France and Norway embassy. This training area will serve the KP in further advance of the operational and tactical capacities in combating all criminal activities, especially the illegal use of small and light weapons, with the aim of providing safety to all the citizens and the country. Kosovo Police aims to be a leader in the region, in increasing capacitates for K9 Unit as well as in providing trainings for this Unit as well as other agencies in Kosovo and in the region, with the aim of strengthening the International cooperation and to advance the KP contribution in the regional security.

The Ambassador of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo emphasized: Today, as never before, it is vitally important to strengthen capacities of detection and confiscation of illegal small and light weapons, ammunition and explosives. This is a high priority for the OSCE Mission in Kosovo and for the OSCE in the entire region. I am grateful for the excellent cooperation that the OSCE has with Kosovo Police in this field, with the support of Germany, France, Norway and the EU. It is our pleasure to jointly hand over to KP the new and modern training area for K9 Units, harnessing the potential of well-trained dogs to detect and repel the illegal trade of SLW.

During the ceremony of donation, an exercise of K9 unit was demonstrated in the training area.