The NRW Ministry of the Interior used this event to honor the participation of North Rhine-Westphalian police officers in international police missions. Minister of the Interior Herbert Reul, State Secretary Jürgen Matthies, Inspector of the NRW Police Bernd Heinen, members of the Interior Committee of the state parliament, representatives of the district police authorities and many mission participants filled the hall in the House of History, with the state police orchestra providing musical accompaniment to the event.
Since 1994 until today, around 1,400 police officers from NRW have taken part in missions of the United Nations, the Western European Union and the European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and bilateral projects - due to multiple deployments. They have worked in the republics of the former Yugoslavia, in Afghanistan, in Africa and, since 2015, on behalf of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX) at the EU's external borders.
There are currently 23 police officers from NRW in Ukraine, Kosovo, Sudan, Mali, Somalia, Afghanistan and for FRONTEX in Greece, Italy, Bulgaria and Spain. They are making an important contribution to stabilizing former crisis and war zones and helping to register migrants at the EU's external borders.
Background
The year 1994 marked a turning point for the participation of the federal states in international police missions, as the then Federal Border Guard initially provided the contingents for international participation by German police, for example in UNTAG in Namibia, UNTAC in Cambodia and MINURSO in the Western Sahara. The commitment of the NRW police to internal security abroad also becomes an integral part of the portfolio of tasks.
At the Standing Conference of Interior Ministers and Senators of the federal states, it is decided that police officers from the federal states, the Federal Criminal Police Office and the state police forces will from now on be jointly involved in missions abroad. The first joint deployment with federal and state police forces takes place in 1994 as part of the WEU Police Mostar. The former Lord Mayor of the City of Bremen, Hans Koschnik, is appointed administrator in Mostar in order to set up a functioning administration in the divided city. The establishment of an orderly administration also requires a functioning police force. Police officers from Europe, including police officers from North Rhine-Westphalia, are therefore being sent to Mostar on behalf of the Western European Union (WEU).
Heinz Kurscheid from Bonn was one of the first NRW police officers to travel to Mostar in a police bus in October 1994. He reported on his experiences there in an interview at the event. His much younger colleague Julia Sabass from Oelde worked for the United Nations in Mali until July 2019. It's not just 24 years and different continents that distinguish these missions.
