The Centre of Excellence in EU Studies from the ADA University in cooperation with Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) and the European Policy Centre (EPC), has conducted a training programme for governmental officials in Azerbaijan focused on security issues. The year-long training programme has provided in-depth exposure to lessons learned from international best practices, particularly when it comes to the European Union experiences and sequenced immersion in concrete case-studies that allowed for both reflection and applied learning practice, while creating a space where key officials from relevant governmental institutions engaged together in structured brainstorming about the current security trends and challenges.

Objectives

The objective of the training programme was to support the capacities of government officials in Azerbaijan in understanding current security challenges in the EU and its neighbourhood, as part of their respective professional mandates.

The training programme specific objectives were:

1) increased knowledge and understanding among government officials on current security challenges and new threats in EU and its neighbourhood;

2) increased knowledge and understanding among government officials on regional and international experiences of addressing violent crisis;

3) increased cooperation and exchanges between various institutions in Azerbaijan on security-related matters.

Activities

In order to achieve its objectives, the training programme include the following activities over the span of 1 year (spring 2018-spring 2019):

The training programme initiated a 3-4-day workshops in Baku in April/May 2018, that were structured around 1) instability in the EU’s neighbourhood (Ukraine and Middle East) 2) new security threats and challenges in the EU (radicalisation, cyber-security and migration) and 3) Regional and international experiences in addressing violent crisis (Moldova and Cyprus). The interactive study of these practical cases underlined the complexity aspects of such challenges and issues. 

The second activity of the training programme consisted of a 3 day visit to Brussels in September/October 2018, that was structured around 1) meetings with Brussels-based stakeholders on EU’s response mechanisms to crisis and threats within and outside the EU;

2) EU’s experiences in dealing internal divides (Brexit, Northern Ireland and South Tyrol).

The third activity of the training programme consisted of a 3-4-day workshop in Baku in February/March 2019, that was structured around addressing crisis through negotiations and political means (EU’s cooperation with regional and international organisations and aftermaths and implementation of the Dayton Accord on Bosnia).

For each activity, in consultations with the Centre of Excellence in EU Studies, CMI has provided targeted international experts on the activities’ topics.