Based on the analysis of the security situation, specific cases that have been executed in recent years and following the predefined goals of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism, the Department for Detection of Hazardous Substances and Environmental Crime of the Criminal Police Bureau of the Presidium of Police Force (hereinafter "the Department") implemented a security project “SOS- Alert Solution – Cross border cooperation project for enhanced detection and interception of illicit CBRN (chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear) materials on the Slovakian-Ukrainian border” (hereinafter “the project”). The objective of the project was to enhance the capabilities of the Presidium of Police Force of the Slovak Republic (PPF) and the State Border Guards Services of Ukraine (SBGS) and their respective partners at the border in specific areas related to CBRN threats through exchange of experiences, best practices and capacity building with the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority (NRPA) and other European and international experts and organizations.

Special equipment for the detection of CBRN materials and special protective equipment for the training and operation of specialized units of security forces has been purchased from the project funds. The project also funded an extensive education and training of police officers, the Financial Directorate of the Slovak Republic officers, the judiciaries and the officers of Ukrainian security forces, the creation of strategic project documents – Joint Threat Assessment and Draft of the Joint Concept of Operation for the reaction of security forces on a CBRN incident at the Slovakian-Ukrainian border. A joint Slovak-Ukrainian exercise was carried out with the active participation of a Norwegian partner within the project. Implementation of the project was completed in April 2017.

The project partners had the opportunity to evaluate the contribution of the project to the practice of the security forces of the Slovak Republic and Ukraine involved in the fight against criminal activity related to CBRN materials, with a specific focus on the Slovak-Ukrainian border, during the final project activities and during the evaluation meeting that was carried out in Oslo and funded at the request of the Department by the bilateral fund at the program level.

In general, all partners noted improvement and streamlining of Slovak-Ukrainian cooperation. With regard to the partnerships, links and contact network created within the project, the communication between different institutions as well as the organization of all joint project activities improved with the progression of implementation of the project. Although the Slovak Republic and Ukraine have a common border, it can be said that, apart from standard communication channels characterized by a high degree of bureaucracy and involvement of state authorities who are often only marginally affected by the subject matter, cooperation in a specific area of the fight against CBRN threats have never been at a better level between the two countries.

The partners very specifically identified and described the national practices of the security forces in the case of the CBRN incident and drew up a proposal for a common procedure of these security forces, which could be used in practice if a CBRN incident occurred in the Slovak-Ukrainian border or in its vicinity with the possibility of cross-border threat. The basic element of this cooperation of the security forces of the Slovak Republic and Ukraine is to exchange not only the initial information about the incident, but also to keep the relevant partner on the opposite side of the border informed about the current state of action, which is not set up currently at a sufficient level. Resolving this problematic area is one of the key objectives of a new project to be implemented by the partners in the new programming period of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism through the creation of standardized procedures based on the already elaborated Draft of the Joint Concept of Operation for the reaction of security forces on a CBRN incident at the Slovakian-Ukrainian border. At present, the draft has only a recommendatory character, and has served to the partner primarily to identify national security procedures and problematic points in mutual communication. The standardization of the common procedure and its adoption by relevant state authorities on both sides of the border would significantly simplify and speed up the process of information exchange as well as the executive part of the joint cooperation of the security forces if necessary. At present, no form of regular meetings of Slovak and Ukrainian relevant state authorities in the area of CBRN security with regard to the common border is set up. This aspect is also intended by the project partners to be solved in the near future. In the end of 2018, the Department, who has the nationwide competence in fight against criminal activity related to CBRN materials, should be extended to regional offices in the sense of the Program Declaration of the Government of the Slovak Republic for 2016 – 2020. An active involvement in the development of Slovak-Ukrainian cooperation in this area will also be one of the tasks of a regional office of the Department in Eastern Slovakia, especially through regular meetings of experts on detection and investigation CBRN crimes. The partners intend to support the creation of this system also with the predefined project under the Cross-Border Cooperation Program in the 2014-2021 programming period.

Several joint Slovak-Ukrainian activities with the active participation of Norwegian partner were carried out during the project. Workshops aimed to creation of the above-mentioned strategic project documents were always attended by representatives of project partners, specialists in the field of detection and identification of hazardous CBRN materials. Representatives of project partners also jointly attended study visits to Iceland, Norway and France, during which cooperation with relevant state institutions in these countries was established and valuable knowledge on the procedures of the security forces in cases related to CBRN materials was collected. The most significant benefits from all common activities were the networking education of Slovak and Ukrainian relevant security forces and joint Slovak-Ukrainian exercises during which the procedure of Police Corps and the State Border Guards Service of Ukraine were examined in simulated conditions of the Slovak-Ukrainian border in cases of dangerous radioactive and chemical material. The executed education and training has highlighted the urgent need to develop a standardized education system in the field of CBRN security, both under the conditions of the Police Force and under the conditions of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine and their respective national partners. On this basis, the Department has unequivocally identified the need to involve other Ukrainian security forces in cross-border cooperation in the field of CBRN security as well as in the predefined project. Ukrainian state institutions often operate autonomously, without close cooperation with other relevant actors, and the cooperation of all stakeholders is crucial in the cases with CBRN threats. Under conditions of the Slovak Republic, the cooperation of all stakeholders is sometimes cumbersome, mainly due to a large number of competent subjects, failure of the necessary exchange of information as well as frequent inadequate awareness of the competent staff of all involved institutions. For these reasons, the project partners intend to develop a standardized CBRN security education and training system for all relevant state institutions, respective their competent staff. The aim of the system is to ensure, that the security forces and other relevant authorities dealing with the CBRN incident would have sufficient personnel base that will interfere directly at the threat site and provide them such level of knowledge in this area that they would be capable of responding professionally and effectively to the situation. All relevant actors should be involved in the process of creating such system of education and training, and therefore it seems necessary for the competent Ukrainian institutions (State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, National Police of Ukraine and Security Service of Ukraine) to be directly project partners in the predefined project. In the previous project, the partner was only the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine and the involvement of the remaining institutions in the project activities was marked by a considerable bureaucracy. If all relevant stakeholders were directly project partners, this problem could be eliminated.

During the project education, 469 members of Police Force, Customs Service, State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, National Police of Ukraine and prosecutors were trained at different levels of knowledge according to the type of education they attended. Basic education was attended mainly by the staff of the above mentioned institutions, whose service is directly linked to the Slovak-Ukrainian border. In particular, they have been provided with basic information on the hazards of CBRN materials, the ways and means of their detection and protection against their adverse effects. The system of functioning of security forces in this area was explained and the detection devices and personal protective equipment, together with the specifics of work on the scene with potential contamination by dangerous material were presented. Enhanced education was carried out directly at the border crossing point of Vyšné Nemecké - Uzhgorod at the Training Center of the Financial Directorate of the Slovak Republic. The participants of these education and training activities were more closely represented with the detection technology at disposal of the Department as well as special and technical capacities of the Financial Directorate of the Slovak Republic and the Control Chemical Laboratories of the Crisis Management Section of the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic. Special education was focused according to the participation of prosecutors and decision-makers of relevant Ukrainian institutions, in particular on CBRN security legislation and the specificities of CBRN -related crimes. All the trainings were carried out in the eastern Slovak region, emphasis being placed primarily on educating the staff of relevant institutions from the region. The positive impact of the conducted education and training of police officers has been reflected in practice during the ongoing implementation of the project where police officers of the Prešov Regional Police Directorate have responded professionally and effectively to a criminal case related to radioactive material.

The project funded the creation of promotional materials - brochures for the wide public, police and customs officers and posters that were immediately after their procurement distributed to the relevant units of the Police Force and the Financial Directorate of the Slovak Republic in the eastern region of Slovakia. These materials provide basic information on hazardous CBRN materials and the correct civil or professional reaction in cases where such materials occur, each with a specific focus on specific target group. The aim of these materials was to use the popular way to approach the laics, in particular with the safety principles that are necessary in case of occurrence or suspected occurrence of dangerous CBRN materials and with information on the correct course of action in such cases. These promotional materials are usable to wide public and the police and customs officers who are usually the first persons who come into contact with such material, which is out of control.

The implementation of the project had itself a positive effect on the administration of the border. In addition to international cooperation, the Department, as an expert guarantee on the issue of illicit manipulation with CBRN materials, has also established closer cooperation with the Border and Alien Police Bureau of the Presidium of Police Force, which is responsible for all tasks of the Police Corps related to border protection and the Customs Section of the Financial Directorate of the Slovak Republic, which has extensive competence in the area of detection of radioactive or nuclear materials, in particular in border area. The competent staff of these authorities has been actively involved in education and training carried out during the project. Not only that the officers were involved in project activities as educated ones, but also through the provision of lectures by their own experts during the whole project.

In general, it can be said that the implementation of the project had a positive impact on the administration of the Slovak-Ukrainian border, intensive cooperation of the relevant security forces of the Slovak Republic and Ukraine was established, threats related to CBRN materials were identified focusing on the Slovak-Ukrainian border, national procedures of security forces in cases of CBRN incidents were identified and the draft of common procedure for the security forces in the case of a CBRN incident at the border or CBRN incident with cross-border impact was created. However, project partners have identified and described even the barriers of existing cooperation and with the support of the Norwegian partner they intend to minimize these negative aspects, in particular through the joint implementation of the predefined project under the Cross-Border Cooperation program in the 2014-2020 programming period.