Time frame: 1 March 2024 – 31 December 2025 (Phase I)
Beneficiary countries: Ukraine, Republic of Moldova, and neighbouring countries in the region
Donor: Germany (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Budget: 4.4 million euros (Phase I)
The Situation
Since 2022, the law enforcement community has monitored the potential impact of the conflict in Ukraine on serious organized crime and terrorism on the countries from the region and globally.
INTERPOL deployed operational support teams to the Republic of Moldova through a pilot project “Operational Assistance in Moldova”, from 1 October 2022 to 29 February 2024. In close cooperation with Moldovan and Ukrainian law enforcement units, this set the foundation for a new operational engagement and new partnerships with national police authorities and international stakeholders.
The I-FORCE Project will build on this, aiming to promote the best practices from neighbouring countries – Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia – and ensure exchange of information and operational support from relevant law enforcement agencies in the region, to maintain border control, peace and safety.
The crimes to be covered by this project include:
- organized crime groups and criminal networks;
- human trafficking, smuggling of migrants and child sexual exploitation;
- trafficking in drugs, firearms and vehicles;
- terrorism activities;
- financial crimes and financial investigations;
- cybercrime.
Project Scope
The project will support law enforcement to address the serious organized crime and transnational threats emerging from the armed conflict in Ukraine and intensify police cooperation and operational engagement in the Eastern and Southeastern Europe region.
Beneficiary agencies will be guided on the use of INTERPOL’s databases and tools, strengthening their infrastructure, capacity, operational police engagement and coordination between countries.
It will help reinforce their skills necessary to carry out joint operations, investigate cases, identify victims, arrest offenders and disrupt serious organized criminal networks.
It will also, in partnership with regional law enforcement and humanitarian organizations, ensure victims are supported during the investigative processes, and criminals are arrested and brought to justice.
Objectives of the project
The project has four main objectives:
1: To enhance the organizational infrastructure and operational capacities of INTERPOL’s National Central Bureaus (NCBs) in Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. This will include equipment, technical expertise on legal and operational issues, and support on exchanging information and criminal analysis files.
2: To enhance the operational capacities of national specialized units through training. This will tackle serious and organised crime, crimes against children, human trafficking and smuggling of migrants, firearms trafficking, financial crime, cybercrime and terrorism.
3: To ensure that national law enforcement agencies are well equipped and responsive to investigate and address the threats posed by organized crime groups. This will include setting up a Joint Task Force to conduct transnational investigations, deploying operational support teams and organizing regional case meetings to share intelligence.
4: To build a strong relationship of trust and recognition between all partners. This will include a project steering committee.
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