Albania: ICITAP Addresses Regional Threats and Opportunities in the Balkans

On December 10, ICITAP concluded a two-day regional coordination meeting, which brought together ICITAP attachés, advisors, and personnel from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia to review successes and challenges from 2019 and strategize on strengthened partnerships and activities for 2020. Joined by colleagues from the U.S. European Command’s Counter-Narcotics Team from Stuttgart, Germany, ICITAP leveraged the lessons learned from the Western Balkans to put forward a plan of action for the coming year. ICITAP headquarters personnel from Washington, DC joined the field teams to provide overarching organizational perspectives and updates on interagency planning, funding opportunities, and how ICITAP continues supporting the strategic goals of the Department of Justice and the larger U.S. government priorities abroad. The meeting covered ICITAP’s expanding partnership in the Balkans with the Drug Enforcement Administration as well as with Homeland Security Investigations.