DUSHANBE, February 19, 2013, Asia-Plus – Senior border officials from 16 countries started OSCE-run Border Management Staff Course in Dushanbe on February 18, press release issued by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan said.

“This comprehensive course opens doors for dialogue and co-operation among the officers from border, customs, and drug control agencies across the OSCE area,” said Hans Peter Larsen, the acting Head of the OSCE Office in Tajikistan.  “Here they try to find common solutions, share various perspectives and strengthen professional skills to the benefit of their respective states and agencies.”

Twenty-five representatives from border guard, customs and drug control agencies in Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Mongolia, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, and the US are attending the month-long course.

The course is based on the principles and standards of the 2005 OSCE Border Security and Management Concept, covering the political-military, economic and environmental, and human aspects of security.

This is the seventh such course run by the OSCE Border Management Staff College, open to representatives of 57 OSCE participating States and 11 Partners for Cooperation.  The next will be held in June.