At 3:00 pm, participants of the 75th Session of the ILEA eight-week course will graduate in a ceremony held at the auditorium of the International Training and Civilian Crisis Management Center. Sixteen officers from Bosnia Herzegovina, eighteen officers from Hungary, and sixteen officers from Kosovo have spent the last eight weeks receiving instruction from representatives of U.S. federal law enforcement agencies, the Hungarian National Police and other international police agencies.

In addition to the fifty graduating participants, attendees are expected to include the U.S. Ambassador to Hungary, Eleni Kounalakis, officials from the participating countries' embassies in Budapest, high ranking representatives of U.S. and Hungarian law enforcement agencies and distinguished ILEA alumni. Later in the evening, the graduation participants will attend a banquet in honor of the 15th year anniversary and the 75th Session.

The ILEA was established in 1995 through the cooperation of the governments of Hungary and the United States. ILEA is managed and funded through the Department of State's Bureau for Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, with the direction of a steering group that meets in Washington, D.C. and which consists of the many U.S. Federal law enforcement agencies that provide training. In addition to five yearly eight-week sessions, the Academy hosts short specialized classes in areas such as arson investigation, crime scene investigation, and money laundering.

The students' classroom experience is complemented by an outstanding fitness facility, computer labs, forensic science center, and tactical training facility. The alumni of the ILEA are encouraged to remain in contact with each other, utilizing their close ties and their training experience in their everyday law enforcement work.

If you wish to attend the graduation ceremony please contact Anna Katona, tel: (36-1-)475-4766 by Wednesday afternoon, May 12."

Source: U.S. Embassy Budapest