OSCE supports Bosnia and Herzegovina’s efforts to join International Civil Aviation Organization’s Public Key Directory (ICAO PKD)

The Border Security and Management Unit of the OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department as part of a country visit aimed at facilitating Bosnia and Herzegovina’s participation in the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Public Key Directory (ICAO PKD)held meetings with the country’s Ministry of Security, Ministry of Civil Affairs, Border Police and the Agency for Identification Documents, Registers and Data Exchange (IDDEEA) from 2 to 3 April 2019 in Sarajevo.  

During the meetings, Simon Deignan, Manager of the Travel Document Security Programme of the Border Security and Management Unit, emphasized the benefits of joining ICAO PKD from the perspectives of passport issuers, border control agencies and passengers.  He said the ICAO PKD is a secure and cost-effective central repository for exchanging the public keys of ePassports and allowing for their fast and safe authentication at the borders. He also highlighted the regional approach of the PKD initiative and that improving the border security of Bosnia and Herzegovina will support the country’s efforts to join the European Union. 

During the meeting with IDDEEA, Jeen de Swart, Senior Information Architect from the Ministry of Justice of Netherlands discussed step-by-step guidelines on the technical and administrative requirements for joining the PKD.  The OSCE’s support during the entire process was discussed as well. 

The OSCE’s facilitation of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s participation in the ICAO PKD was welcomed by government representatives, the main contact points for PKD implementation were identified and future steps were discussed. 

This was the fifth country visit on ICAO PKD to the Western Balkans as a follow-up activity to the first OSCE Regional Workshop for South-Eastern Europe on the Directory, which was organized in Montenegro, in November last year.