“Our aim is to establish a police service that is prepared to manage ethnic conflicts” – said Interior Minister Sándor Pintér at the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) at the Opening Ceremony of the “Best practices in Multicultural Policing” two-day long international seminar.

“As a result of the economic crisis conflicts have intensified in many parts of the country – for example in Gyöngyöspata – the Government responded with legal and police actions to the tensions.” – highlighted Sándor Pintér and added: “We have opened this training to help policemen deal with similar situations in a professional manner.”

Minister of Interior expressed his thanks to Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis the U.S. Ambassador to Hungary, this international seminar “would not have been possible without her”.

Guest lecturers of the United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom participate in the training and share their experiences on policing in multicultural environments to help their Hungarian colleagues in the preparation. Canada and Norway are co-sponsors of the programme.

Károly Molnár, Headmaster of the Nekcsei Demeter Primary School in Gyöngyöspata, members of the teaching faculty of the Police College and educators of schools of law enforcement attend to the seminar. Sándor Pintér stresses: “Their participation is important as they can pass along theoretical and practical knowledge gained in the seminar to students of educational institutions.”

Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis said: “Hungary is not alone in confronting these types of problems, experts from several countries can learn from the approaches and experiences of others.”

U.S. Ambassador visited Gyöngyögypata and saw first-hand the efforts of the Hungarian national police to protect all the village’s residents from intimidation. She has profound respect for the policemen who face specific challenges during their work. “The citizens they protect owe them a debt of gratitude.” – said Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis.

(kormany.hu)