Project; ongoing

EUSDR Priority Area(s): PA 11 Security

In 2023, an OSINT report from the GLOBAL INITIATIVE AGAINST TRANSNATIONAL AND ORGANIZED CRIME on the effects of the Russian war against Ukraine was published. The content of this report highlighted current and potential future flows of illicitly traded weapons. A first workshop by law enforcement agencies (LEAs) from around Europe on the topic in April 2024 has identified 14 recommendations on how to improve the fight against illicit firearms arms trafficking. In the next step, the applicants aim to build on these recommendations and to conduct an in-depth workshop to facilitate their implementation.

Objectives:

• Strengthen international networks on fighting terrorism and illicit trafficking of firearms
• Exchange on recent, past and/or ongoing related investigations
• Share gathered intelligence on groups involved in smuggling activities, their structure and smuggling routes
• Provide an overview of the status quo in international police cooperation in the field of terrorism and weapon smuggling
• Discuss prevention strategies and lessons learned from prior conflicts

Need and (expected) impact: Illicit firearms trafficking is a global phenomenon that cannot be addressed by one country alone. And the war against Ukraine is providing an additional source of weapons and vast opportunities for organised crime to benefit from.

A regional approach bringing together all countries from the Danube Region on one or more of the outlined recommendations of the first workshop can contribute to making the Danube Region safer through better cooperation, a more efficient information exchange, and the exchange of ideas and strategies that have proven to work.

Macro-regional dimension: Since the future flow of weapons from Ukraine to the rest of Europe will affect both the neighbouring countries (Poland, Slovakia, Republic of Moldova, Hungary and Romania) and the rest of Europe, a macro-regional dimension is given. As Europe experienced this phenomenon during and after the Yugoslav wars in the 1990s, there are many avenues for cooperation.

First, the already established cooperation with colleagues from Ukraine is essential in supporting measures to better register and detect weapons. Second, the co-organisation with the Austrian colleagues from the first workshop will be built upon and the inclusion of as many neighbouring countries as possible will be sought to maximise the impact.

Thus, we can say that this initiative will go beyond the Danube Region and will touch upon the territories of other MRS.

Stakeholders involved:

• Munich Police Department as the organiser
• Co-organising countries (e.g., Ukraine, Austria and other interested partners)
• EUROPOL and European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT) Firearms
• NGOs for research input (e.g., the Global Initiative) as well as for strategic support (e.g., SEESAC)

Budget and Funding: The Project is funded by the Interreg Danube Region Programme and was co-financed by the Austrian Ministry of the Interior for the workshop in April 2024.

Contact: Mr Christian Rabini, International Project Coordinator, Munich Police Department,