In 2024, SEESAC continued to facilitate coordination, monitor progress, and foster regional cooperation to achieve the Roadmap's goals in close cooperation with the EU, Germany and France.
The 11th and 12th Regional Roadmap Coordination meetings were organized on 9-10 July 2024 and 10-11 December 2024. Preceding these gatherings, six local coordination meetings were organized in May and June and November 2024 by the SALW Commissions in each jurisdiction, with support from SEESAC.
These meetings, coupled with the 11th and 12th biannual regional progress reports, allowed for a comprehensive review of progress, challenges, and future plans among national counterparts, donors, and international organizations. SEESAC played a pivotal role in synthesizing inputs received from each jurisdiction.
Additionally, following a last round of consultations during the local coordination meetings, the SALW Commissions approved the revised text of the Roadmap 2025-2030 at the 11th Regional Roadmap Coordination meeting.
The Roadmap 2025-2030 was then endorsed by the Western Balkans Ministers of Interior during the EU - Western Balkans Ministerial Forum on Justice and Home Affairs in Montenegro in October 2024.
The Roadmap's significance was also reinforced through its recognition at the global and regional high-level events:
The Berlin Process Summit
The Berlin Process Summit, held in Berlin in October 2024, acknowledged the transformative impact of the Western Balkans SALW Control Roadmap. Leaders of the Western Balkans Six and their European counterparts welcomed the revised Roadmap for 2025-2030, but also commended the significant progress achieved over five years, emphasizing the strong ownership and commitment demonstrated by regional authorities.
Furthermore, the Roadmap's impact was underlined in the Joint Declaration where the leaders of the Western Balkans Six agreed "that the successful implementation of the Western Balkans Small Arms and Light Weapons Control Roadmap, with its important impact on regional coordination and cooperation, crucially contributes to facilitating the ongoing efforts of the Western Balkans Six to meet key security standards for EU membership."
The EU-Western Balkans Summit
The EU-Western Balkans Summit, held in Brussels in December 2024, reaffirmed the importance of the Western Balkans SALW Control Roadmap and its impact on regional cooperation and the fight against organized crime regional stability. The EU announced continued financial support, endorsing the Roadmap's next phase as a critical component of the region's alignment with EU security standards.
The Brussels Declaration highlights the importance of combatting SALW trafficking and calls on the Western Balkans partners to pursue with the implementation of the Western Balkans SALW Control Roadmap.
Western Balkans SALW Control Roadmap Multi-Partner Trust Fund
SEESAC serves as the Secretariat for the Western Balkans SALW Control Roadmap Multi-Partner Trust Fund. In this capacity, in 2024, it continued to effectively coordinate and monitor the Trust Fund's activities and support the decision-making of the Trust Fund's Steering Committee.
The Trust Fund received new contributions from its principal donors, amounting to about US$ 1 million in 2024, augmenting its total value to approximately US$29 million.
The eight (8) project proposals that commenced from the end of 2023 as a result of the 3rd Call for Proposals proceeded with their operations across the Western Balkans jurisdictions largely as planned. The projects ensured further progress towards the legislative advancements in line with the UN Firearms Protocol, upgraded infrastructure and data collection practice on SALW, promoted gender-responsive, evidence-based and intelligence-led operations, enhanced community outreach and awareness on firearms misuse, including in domestic violence cases, and upgraded crime-scene and forensic investigations in line with international standards. In September 2024, the Steering Committee approved a new phase of engagement on the regional project that supports the countering of trafficking in firearms via postal shipments (Hermes initiative). This brought the number of projects supported by the Trust Fund over a five-year period to 25 projects in total.
The Secretariat compiled and published in May 2024 the annual report of the Trust Fund for the year 2023 and communicated key achievements and progress towards the Roadmap Goals to the donors, partners and Western Balkans authorities on a regular basis, capitalizing on the local and regional coordination meetings as an enabling platform.
