Without a credible, functioning legal order and responsible, accountable and democratic institutions, countries cannot participate fully in a European Union based on mutual trust and shared interests and values. The project supported government reforms in Albania, Serbia and Turkey in the field of local public security and further integration of reform processes to align with European standards, thereby tackling political and administrative patterns of behaviour to provide EU integration frameworks for policy development.

The project increased the capacity of national and local government institutions responsible for security in view of horizontal, operational and institutional or policy challenges of EU accession. Through capacity building activities, values as efficiency, transparency, accountability, integrity, participation and cooperation in the field of local public security were addressed. The programme set European standards of performance and provided EU integration frameworks for policy development. The project was designed to promote the interaction between different stakeholders to ensure institutions perform better in implementing and enforcing the law and in involving civil society.

The objective of the project was to support government reforms in Albania, Serbia and Turkey by strengthening the democratic leadership skills of government institutions in the field of public security and further integration of reform processes to align with European standards.

Results:
1. Increased capacities of national and local government to act, commit and deliver on public security and protecting human rights by taking responsibilities for one's role and applying principles of good governance and rule of law:
- A total of 58 high-level managers at (national and local) institutions in public security sector of Albania, Serbia and Turkey were equipped in developing a vision, strategy and policy and applying modern ideas of leadership during intensive training courses;
- Ministries of Interior, Ministries of Justice, national police, training institutes and 18 local governments got acquainted with Netherlands good practices and lessons learned during study visits and established relationships with Netherlands counterpart institutions in public security sector.
- 12 back home actions plans were implemented by Albanian, Serbian and Turkish participants.
2. Increased capacities of national and local government to achieve coherence and to adapt frameworks for policy development by setting quality performance standards on public security in line with European standards;
- Citizens' perception survey on local safety and security conducted among more than 3900 citizens in 18 pilot local governments of Albania, Serbia and Turkey;
- Citizens' surveys and official data survey discussed and confirmed with national and local government decision-makers in security policy in the 3 countries;
- 18 local government action plans developed (one per pilot) for future improvements in the field of complaints procedures; willingness to report crimes and visibility for taking safety measures;
- Generic benchmarking reports on security developed and disseminated at national (final) conferences in the 3 countries.
- The Local Safety and Security Monitor (based on the Dutch Safety Monitor) was implemented and standardised in Serbian policy, by Dutch experts who coached Serbian 10 experts working at (the
Police Directorate of) the Ministry of Interior. At the same time a handbook on the Serbian Local Safety and Security Monitor was developed and disseminated at central and local levels of government;
- The functionality and institutional capacity of Local Security Councils (LSCs) in Serbia was strengthened via an exchange workshop that involved 4 municipalities who do not yet have LSCs and 3 pilot municipalities of the programme who do have functional and relatively successful LSCs;
- In Albania 2 policy documents on the new complaints procedures were developed and adopted by the municipal councils of Berat and Fier.
3. Increased capacities of national and local government to relate to external stakeholders, demonstrated by participation of civil society, in particular minority and disadvantaged groups, in decision-making process, protection of minority rights and promotion of a culture of tolerance and anti-discrimination:
- A total of 85 (round 1) and 88 (round 2) Albanian, Serbian and Turkish representatives of municipalities and NGOs engaged in 2 interactive workshops of 3 days per country, on the use of different methods and techniques of participatory governance;
- Recommendations reports delivered on participatory governance for Albania, Serbia and Turkey and disseminated at central and local levels;
- Capacities of 48 participants from Albania, Serbia, Turkey strengthened on integrity, human and minority rights and awareness raising in a combined exchange activity of 2 days.
4. Increased capacities of training institutes to achieve coherence by providing training in the field of good governance, rule of law, public security and human rights:
- 4 Turkish trainers of the Union of Municipalities of Turkey; National Police; and Police Academy, 4 Serbian trainers of the Centre for Basic Police Training; and Judicial Academy, 4 Albanian trainers from the Albanian School for Public Administration; the School for Magistrates; and the Police Training Centre trained in applying modern training methods, individual training skills and leadership capabilities.
- Training capacity of the above mentioned Albanian, Serbian and Turkish training institutes further enhanced to train target group institutions in the public security sector at central and local level.
- The following training guidelines were developed for and by the Training of Trainers (ToT) participants, enabling them to implement concrete training programmes based on the content and training methodologies observed through the ToT and Leadership programmes:
• 'Leadership within Local Administrations'- developed for the Union of Municipalities of Turkey;
• 'Integrity and Whistleblower Protection' – developed for the Serbian Judicial Academy
• 'Integrity in the Police Force' – developed for the Serbian Basic Police;
• 'Training for Members of Municipal Emergency Situation Headquarters' – developed for the Serbian Standing Conference of Towns & Municipalities;
• 'Leadership in the Public Administration' – developed for the Albanian School of Public Administration by ToT participants;
• 'Leadership in the State Police' – developed for the Albanian Security Academy.

Further beneficiaries of the project were the Local Government Associations of Serbia (Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities), Turkey (Union of Turkish Municipalities) and the Foundation of Local Governance and Autonomy (Albania)

Involved Dutch public institutions:
• Municipality of Diemen – knowledge exchange with mayor and civil servants working in the field of public safety during study visit in the Netherlands and safety benchmark expertise provided during workshops in Albania and Turkey;
• Municipality of Amsterdam – knowledge exchange with Neighbourhood Practice Team and Amsterdam Bureau for Research & Statistic during study visits in the Netherlands and benchmark workshop in Albania;
• Municipality of Rotterdam – Safety experts provided expertise and on-the-job coaching for the Turkish and Serbian Safety and Security Monitor;
• Municipality of Zeist – complaints procedure expert provided expertise and on-the-job trainings in the Albanian municipalities Fier and Berat;
• The Hague Municipality – The Hague Police Statistics Department provided expertise and on-the-job coaching for the Serbian Safety and Security Monitor;
• Netherlands Ministries: Foreign Affairs; Security and Justice; Interior and Kingdom Relations -