Prisons, police agencies, and government bodies from across Bosnia and Herzegovina gathered this week in Trebinje for the first of three planned meetings to work together towards enhancing existing cooperation and planning next steps for further advancements and information exchange.

The two-day meeting on 28-29 May 2025 brought together representatives from the justice ministries of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Republika Srpska, BiH State Prison, Mostar and Bijeljina prisons, BiH Ministry of Security, BiH Intelligence and Security Agency, FBiH Police Directorate, RS Interior Ministry, and Brčko District Police.

Participants discussed ways to enhance collaboration and information sharing protocols. They agreed on the need to update the current legislative framework for cooperation between penitentiary institutions and law enforcement agencies and proposed joint training activities to further strengthen cross-institutional cooperation.

Participants also agreed on the need and usefulness of periodic joint meetings to discuss the prevention and countering violent extremism, and to work on formal cooperation mechanisms, particularly related to operational work in prisons and sharing the information with law enforcement agencies.

The meeting is part of a broader initiative to further strengthen the operational work within the penitentiary systems of Bosnia and Herzegovina, being a significant part in detecting signs and providing early warnings related to the potential harmful acts coming from violent extremist offenders. The initiative further aims to enhance cooperation and information exchange with law-enforcement agencies with the aim to build sustainable mechanisms for preventing security threats in prisons and in the society.

The Project “Providing for effective reintegration of violent extremist offenders in Bosnia and Herzegovina (PER-VEO) - Phase I” is funded under the Council of Europe’s Action Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina 2022-2025.