07/11/2025

The Agency for Education and Professional Training (AEPTM) hosted a five-day professional training course titled “Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism” for members of the Directorate for the Coordination of Police Bodies. This was a pilot training, conducted according to a new curriculum developed by the Agency in cooperation with representatives of the Directorate and in line with the Reference Curriculum of the NATO DEEP Programme (CT NATO DEEP). The programme focused on enhancing the knowledge and skills of DKPT members in accordance with NATO standards.

The training was delivered by AEPTM, NATO Headquarters Sarajevo, and experts from the NATO DEEP team in this field: Marcus Andreopoulos (team leader), Victoria Jones, Eve Register, Jack Roush, Henry McCabe, Ivan Markov, Dimo Ivanov, Conor Morgan, Larsh Schmidt, and Özgün Erler Bayir.

The following topics were covered: Longevity of terrorist organisations, Overview of radicalisation, Ethno/religious nationalist ideology, Radical left-wing ideology, Neo-Nazi supremacist ideology, Transnational extremist ideology, Push and pull factors, Physical participation, Virtual participation, Terrorist networks and organisational structures and command-control systems, Global environment and foreign terrorist fighters, Insider threat, Chemical threats, Biological threats, Radiological and nuclear materials as new threats, Financing of terrorism, Links between crime and terrorism, Lone actors, Convergent technologies, Terrorist use of media, Tactics, techniques and procedures, and Returnee activities.

In his closing remarks on behalf of the NATO DEEP experts, team leader Marcus Andreopoulos thanked participants for their engagement and cooperation during the training.

“I think this has been a productive week. We had the opportunity to hear experienced professionals from various institutions who work directly in these areas. I would like to announce the preparation of handbooks that you will be able to use in lectures on the topics covered during this training. I hope they will be of great help in your future work with cadets and active police officers,” said Andreopoulos, who, together with Elvir Velić, Assistant Director of the Agency for Education and Professional Training, presented participants with certificates.

Expressing gratitude to NATO Headquarters Sarajevo for its cooperation, which yields concrete results through the organisation of trainings aligned with the most contemporary standards, Assistant Director Velić highlighted in his speech the activities carried out as part of the Agency’s participation in NATO’s Defence Education Enhancement Programme (DEEP) for Bosnia and Herzegovina. The programme was expanded in 2023 to include the Agency for Education and Professional Training.

He recalled that, over the past two and a half years, meetings had been held between NATO experts and representatives of AEPTM, SIPA, the Border Police of BiH, and DKPT.

“Following an assessment of the educational needs of police agencies, NATO experts provided a detailed overview of the NATO Reference Curriculum for Counter-Terrorism (CTRC), based on which three separate curricula were developed for SIPA, the Border Police, and DKPT. The pilot training concluded today is the third in the series for officers of the Directorate for the Coordination of Police Bodies. In September last year, as part of this project, pilot training was held for SIPA investigators. In May this year, training was organised for Border Police officers of BiH,” said Velić, announcing that the next phase will include the preparation of teaching materials and the organisation of “train-the-trainer” courses for each institution.