EU contributes to improving safety in the streets

TIRANA, Dec 13 – Austrian and Slovenian police officers helped last week to regulate traffic on the streets of Tirana. That was part of a week long training course for Albanian traffic police brought by the EU financed Police Assistance Mission of the European Community in Albania (PAMECA) Endowed with 5.5 million Euros, PAMECA is assisting the Albanian State Police (ASP) to deliver contemporary, effective and citizen focused policing in order to improve the quality of life for Albanian citizens.
The training being currently delivered seeks to strengthen EU standards in the areas of: self security during car checks, selection of proper places for car checks; proper regulation in the junction, task sharing, etc. Albanian traffic police officers are sharing experiences with their counterparts from EU Member States and profiting from European best practices.
A “Train the Trainer” course will be delivered in order to continue the transfer of skills to all police employees dealing with traffic across the country. Also, the content of this training will become part of the curricula of the Training Department in the Albanian State Police and it will be delivered on a regular basis to employees.
Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Albania, Ambassador Helmuth Lohan, noted that the death toll on Albania’s roads, if put in relation to the number of registered vehicles, was nearly eight times higher than in Austria. “Education of drivers and the training of traffic police are just two of the factors that can help change the situation. We are happy that the EU PAMECA project now contributes to improving road safety – for the benefit of Albanian drivers and their passengers.”