From 23 to 26 June 2025, the Roma and Travellers Division in cooperation with the Police Force Presidium of the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic, the Department for the Execution of Judgements of the European Court of Human Rights and the Government Agent of Slovak Republic to the ECtHR organised a training of trainers course aimed to enhance the capacity of police officers to address racially motivated crimes against Roma and Traveller communities effectively.

Building on previous capacity-building activities, this training is based on the Toolkit for Police Officers which focuses on Council of Europe standards regarding racially motivated crimes and non-discrimination. The training has been specifically designed to confront and combat prejudice-based crimes targeting the Roma and Traveller communities.

The key objectives of the training include:

• To inform participants about European standards on non-discrimination, the findings and recommendations of human rights monitoring bodies, and the principles and standards derived from the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights on the prevention and investigation of racist crimes.
• To raise awareness of the specific challenges faced by the Roma and Traveller communities regarding racially motivated crimes and strengthen relationships between the police and the Roma and Traveller communities.
• To provide the police with effective methods for investigating and prosecuting racially motivated crimes.

The training brought together 28 specialist police officers from across Slovak Republic with the aim of equipping them with the essential tools and knowledge needed to tackle racially motivated crimes.