Criminal activities and international organised crime have been prevalent over the past 20 years which justifies that the operation of ILEA is as important as it was at the time of the launch, he said.

Sándor Pintér, Hungary’s interior minister said the ILEA had been set up in partnership of the governments of the United States and Hungary with the task to promote the democratic transformation of the region’s police forces and train new law enforcement leaders. “The academy has fulfilled this mission,” he said.

Out of ILEA Budapest’s trainees coming from ten CEE countries, sixty eight have become national law enforcement chiefs and some of them even ministers, Pintér noted.

ILEA is highly important for the United States, for Hungary and for the entire international community, US Ambassador to Hungary Colleen Bell said.

The ambassador thanked Hungary for hosting the academy which she called a model institution symbolising bilateral cooperation.

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MTI photo: Bruzák Noémi