EU signs new deal with RSS for training

As part of her visit to the region, Deputy Secretary General (DSG) for Economic and Global Issues of the European Union’s External Action Service (EEAS), Ms Helena König, visited the Regional Security System (RSS) Paragon Headquarters Base, Barbados on Tuesday.

The RSS and the EU recently renewed their partnership, signing a cooperation deal that will allow for the delivery of six training modules to RSS member states’ law enforcement and border security personnel. The project will also include the rollout of a full-scale field training exercise at sea in St. Lucia next year. The RSS has benefitted from EU support since 2016, with the aim of strengthening the organisation’s capacity to respond to transnational crime threats. 

DSG König said: “The European Union is committed to assisting its security partners in the Caribbean. Fighting transnational organised crime is a common priority for our regions, as consequences of the illicit trade of drugs and firearms are felt on both sides of the Atlantic. I am delighted to officially launch our new partnership with the RSS, and I am sure that the training programmes will provide officers with additional skills to combat crime and terrorism in the maritime and land domains.” 

Executive Director of the Regional Security System, Commodore Errington Shurland, welcomed the EEAS DSG to the Paragon Base and presented the organisation and its activities.

“The Regional Security System has enjoyed an extremely rewarding partnership with the European Union. The new partnership with the European Union seeks to build on our previous cooperation in strengthening institutional capacities to respond to common factors in our criminogenic environment. It is expected to foment our capacity to manage transnational organised crime in a realistic way with capacity-building programmes aimed at operational planning, intelligence analysis, counter-terrorism tactics, polygraph examinations and the full-scale exercise to test the RSS response mechanism in addressing organised crime. This slew of interventions will ensure that the RSS membership will be provided with an opportunity to build further capacity in designing and executing effective inter-agency operations in response to transnational organised crime,” Commodore Shurland affirmed.

In addition to the RSS, DSG König also visited the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Barbados, which is currently benefiting from EU support of its digitisation. She also met with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Kerrie Symmonds; Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Sandra Husbands; Minister of the Environment Adrian Forde; and President of the Senate Reginald Farley. 

While on this visit, DSG König travelled to St. Vincent and the Grenadines to discuss ongoing work with Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves and the CELAC coordinating team in preparation for the upcoming EU-CELAC summit in July in Brussels. 

DSG König will continue her visit by travelling on to Guyana and Suriname this afternoon. (PR)