DEMOCRACY AND SECURITY in Southeastern Europe, No 1

Dispatch
The Atla ntic Ini ti a ti ve Vi si ted
the Pe a ce Su ppo rt Ope ra ti o ns
Tra i ni ng Ce nter
A Visit to the Training Center in
Butmir – Reaching NA TO Standards
Through Top-Class Education
By: Jasna Pekić
The Pe ace Su ppo rt Ope ra ti ons Tra ini ng Ce nter in the
mi li ta ry ba se in Bu tmir has two entra nces, one from the
’Fe de ra ti on’ si de and one from the ’Re pu bli ka Srpska’
si de – that is what we are to ld whi le go ing thro ugh a se -
cu ri ty che ckup at a ba rb wi red ga te. This ’ne utra l’, mi -
li ta ry envi ro nme nt did not at fi rst lo ok pro mi si ng to the
AI me mbe rs who de ci ded to spe nd a day in the Pe ace
Su ppo rt Ope ra ti ons Tra ini ng Ce nter, but the atmo sphe -
re cha nged dra ma ti ca lly when we got in to a mo de rn
whi te bu ildi ng that lo oks co mple te ly di ffe re nt from the
ba rra cks that othe rwi se do mi na te the ba se.
The ce nter in Bu tmir offe rs
inte rna ti ona lly re co gni zed
edu ca ti on and tra ini ng for
yo ung Bo sni an offi ce rs
The Ce nter is equ ipped wi th the la te st te chno lo gy: in a
bri ght cla ssro om we fi nd a gro up of Engli sh la ngu age stu -
de nts, mo st of them from Bo snia-He rze go vi na, but also
one fe ma le stu de nt from No vi Sad, Se rbia. They gre et
us po li te ly and imme di ate ly tu rn ba ck to the ir wo rk.
“We are tryi ng to de ve lop the spi rit of po si ti ve co mpe -
ti ti on he re,” sa ys Dr Ke nan Da uto vi }, di re ctor of the
ce nter. “They are all tryi ng re ally ha rd to be as go od
as they can, but they also enjoy wo rki ng to ge ther.”
46
The author is a stu de nt in the MA
pro gram at the Fa cu lty of Cri mi nal
Ju sti ce, Cri mi no lo gy and Se cu ri ty
Stu di es at the Uni ve rsi ty of Sa ra je vo
Dr Da uto vi } and his assi sta nt Sla |a na Cvi ja no vi } te ll us
abo ut the hi sto ry of the Ce nter. The ori gi nal idea was
to fo cus on yo ung offi ce rs’ ba sic tra ini ng for pe ace
ope ra ti ons, as a fi eld that was po li ti ca lly acce pta ble,
and on a te rri to ry that was wi thin the bo rde rs of Bo -
snia-He rze go vi na, allo wi ng for the co ope ra ti on be twe -
en si des that we re at war not so lo ng ago. The ini ti al
idea and the ensu ing effo rts to get su ppo rt from Bo -
sni an po li ti cal stru ctu res ca me from Gre at Bri ta in.
“The Ce nter was offi ci ally esta bli shed in 2003, it wi ll
ma inta in its mu lti ethnic cha ra cter for ten ye ars, and Bo -
sni an au tho ri ti es wi ll then ta ke over” Dr Da uto vi } sa ys.
“After ope ni ng, we we re mu lli ng over po ssi ble acti vi ti -
es, but in the me anti me, Bo snia-He rze go vi na de ci ded
to pa rti ci pa te in inte rna ti onal pe ace ope ra ti ons, so we
de ci ded that this sho uld be the ma in fo cus he re.”
The Ce nter and its tra ini ng pro gra ms are pa rt of an inte
rna ti onal pro je ct invo lvi ng Bo snia-He rze go vi na, Gre -