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Czech police to help out in Croatia

Local officers stationed at tourist hot spots for busy summer season

By Kimberly Hiss
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
July 9th, 2008 issue

Photo courtesy of the CROATIAN TOURIST BOARD
As a top destination, Croatia attracts nearly 1 million Czechs annually.
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Czech tourists headed for Croatia this summer may sense a familiar presence among local law enforcement. For the first time this year, Czech police will be assisting Croatian authorities with matters pertaining to tourists during the summer season.
“Almost a million Czech citizens travel to Croatia annually,” said Police Presidium spokeswoman Dagmar Bednarčiková, “and every year there are car accidents in which Czech tourists die, or they become victims of other crimes.”
The presence of Czech police — as well as Slovak officers — is intended to aid in communication and cooperation between Czech tourists and Croatian authorities, she added. It is hoped that such a force will act as both a preventive measure, by deterring vacationers from committing violations, as well as a way of improving the handling of any offenses or accidents that do take place.
Negotiations about establishing a Czech police presence in Croatia started as early as May 2007, and were accelerated by a September incident in which Croatian police reportedly used excessive force against two Czech tourists. Earlier this year, Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek and his Croatian counterpart, Ivo Sanader, announced that Czech police would establish a presence in Croatia for the 2008 tourist season.
“We certainly hope it will help avoid misunderstandings between tourists and authorities,” said Deputy Head of the Czech Mission to Croatia Petr Štěpánek, adding that other countries such as France, Austria and Hungary already maintain their own police forces there. “They all speak fluent Croatian, so they should be successful in this role,” he said.  
There will be a total of 14 Czech police officers in Croatia between June 30 and Sept. 1. They are being partnered into teams, each working a two- to three-week shift, according to the Police Presidium.
Applications for the program were high, as 40 Czech police officers entered the selection process, which involved a Croatian language exam.
Because the Czech officers’ main objective is to facilitate communication, they will not carry out any direct police action or carry guns or other “compulsory means” (such as handcuffs or tear gas). They will work with their counterparts in the country’s most popular tourist areas, such as the Istria peninsula and the Makarska Riviera.
— Hela Balínová contributed to this report.

Kimberly Hiss can be reached at news@praguepost.com


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