OSCE trains Montenegrin airport border and customs officers on detecting forged documents and imposters

A two-and-a-half day training course on detecting forged documents and imposters concluded on 22 June 2018 for 15 first- and second-line border and customs officers from Montenegro’s international airports. The course, held at Podgorica’s airport, was organized by the Border Security and Management Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department, in co-operation with the OSCE Mission to Montenegro.

By learning the theory and participation in practical exercises, the participants were familiarized with Interpol databases, the available tools and services for identifying foreign terrorist fighters, techniques for printing travel documents, machine reading devices for official travel documents and gathering advance passenger information.

Following the training, eight specialized magnifiers to enhance the professional capability of border officers to identify forged documents and impostors were donated by the OSCE to the international airports of Podgorica and Tivat.

“In light of the latest increase of mixed migration flows reported along the Mediterranean coast, this training course will help to strengthen the capacity of the Montenegrin border and customs personnel at both Podgorica and Tivat international airports, in particular to detect forged documents and  impostors,” said Ambassador Maryse Daviet , Head of OSCE Mission to Montenegro.

This training was organized as part of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department’s project on airport security in Montenegro, which was launched in co-operation with the OSCE Mission in 2017. This project aims at developing and implementing the Border Community Security Programme of Montenegro. The programme is designed to improve information exchange and co-operation between law enforcement and private sector personnel in order to reduce criminal and terrorist threats and, in particular, to counter the phenomenon of foreign terrorist fighters and returnees at Montenegro’s international airports.