OSCE Approves Training Program for Georgian Border Guards

The OSCE Permanent Council approved the Training Assistance Programme for Georgian Border Guards (TAP) on April 14, the OSCE Mission to Georgia reported.

Preparations are underway to start the program on April 18 in frames of which 800 Georgian border guards will be trained.

The team of 50 personnel, including 30 international experts, will implement the program from the OSCE Mission Headquarters in Tbilisi, as well as from four other regional centres in Lilo, Kazbegi, Lagodekhi, and Omalo.

The training program, which will last until the end of this year, will specifically target the following:

? Rescue operation in mountainous areas and security rules. This includes  helicopter operations and pilot practical training and rescue techniques
? Planning and management of border units during the day and night
? Training in patrolling, reporting and observation techniques
? Maintenance rules of  special equipment
? Map reading
? Communications
? First Aid
? Legal aspects of border policing

The OSCE halted its Border Monitoring Operation at the Russo-Georgian border last December, after the Russia vetoed to discuss the prolongation of this mission. Georgia had been urging the OSCE since then for at least the launching a training program for the Georgian border guards.

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