This twinning project is financed by the EU, its duration is 15 months, and it is worth over half a million Euros. The aim of the project is to upgrade activities of the Albanian Directorate of Witness and Special Persons Protection and at the same time - to ensure the sustainable implementation of reforms in the Albanian internal affairs system.

This is the first EU twinning project to be implemented by representatives of the Lithuanian police.

In 1998, the European Commission launched the EU twinning programme with the aim to help beneficiary countries in strengthening institutional capacities. The main principle of the EU twinning programme is the cooperation between public administration institutions of one country (beneficiary) and their counterparts in other countries (implementater), aiming to implement all the necessary reforms. 

In 1998-2008, 125 EU twinning projects were implemented in Lithuania. After Lithuania joined the EU in 2004, Lithuanian institutions became eligible to provide assistance to other countries within the framework of the EU twinning projects.

This is already third time this year that Lithuania had been chosen to provide assistance through the EU twinning projects. So far, 14 EU project proposals submitted by Lithuanian institutions have been chosen for implementation.

On 15 September 2009, Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs took over the functions of coordination of the EU twinning programme from the Office of the Lithuanian Government. Currently, the Development Cooperation and Democracy Promotion Department of Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs coordinates the implementation of the EU twinning programme.