More than 42,000 employees of the Interior Ministry (MAI), the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI), the Finance Ministry, the General Anticorruption Directorate (DGA), but also from other state structures, have participated in professional training and specialization courses in order to access the Schengen Information System (SIS), organized by the Schengen Multifunctional Training Center Buzau (CMPS), since the establishment of the institution in 2011 and until today, write Agerpres.

According to the CMPS Buzau, one of the two centers of this type which is operating at national level, the need to train staff and public institutions involved in the accession to the Schengen area has led to the organisation of an integrated training system.

„The need of a joint effort at national level regarding the training of staff, as well as the possibility for the institutions/structures involved in Schengen integration to work together in order to achieve their objectives, has led to the establishment of an integrated professional training system. The declared and implemented objective at the level of the unit is ‘professional training of the staff of the authorities entitled to access the Schengen Information System’. Through four departments, since making it operational, i.e. from 11.03.2011 until now, the initiation courses and continuing professional training programmes have led to the training of a total number of 42,349 trainees,” the CMPS told AGERPRES.

The center provides training programmes for MAI personnel, but also for staff of the SRI, the Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE), the Public Ministry, the Justice Ministry, the DGA. Training courses are organised in areas such as Schengen Acquis and Combating Transnational Crime, Schengen Information Systems and Police Cooperation, Foreign Languages and Professional Communication or Communications and Information Technology.

Furthermore, in order to provide a suitable platform for teaching the courses, the center has made investments both through European funds, as well as with the help of amounts earmarked from the state budget. Only in the last five years, the budget allocated to the institution has exceeded the amount of 75,000 thousand RON, according to data provided by the CMPS.

The educational offer of the CMPS for the period October 1, 2023 – September 30, 2024 includes a series of training courses and specializations, including courses in the area of operational management at the external border of the European Union (EU), detection and investigation of cross-border crimes, policies and strategies in the area of border control, visas, immigration and asylum, ways to fight cross-border crime, preventing and combating human trafficking and general Schengen training for the Traffic Police. According to the CMPS, the continuous training of trainers is ensured through documentation activities, including participation in webinars organised by the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEOPOL), the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (EUROPOL) and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX).