Deployment in Blue Helmets
German Police Volunteers in Kosovo
Hartmut Meyer does not yet know what he is in for, but he does know that he definitely absolutely wants to participate in this mission. “I’ve always wanted to do something that would be somehow unpredictable, I consider that to be part of my job, and to be honest, at some point things around here become pretty routine.† In just a few weeks, police officer Hartmut Meyer will be sent on a mission to Kosovo for the first time. Currently, approximately 5000 international police officers are serving in Kosovo, 300 of them from Germany. Since the missions are coordinated with the UN, the German police officers enjoy exclusive discretionary powers, and will be deployed like domestic police officers. After passing all of the examinations in Germany, Hartmut Meyer, together with 20 other candidates, will commence his foreign mission. He will assist in the country’s reconstruction, performing police duties just as he does at home — and yet completely differently. “All I know is that, in the final analysis, our duties there will be the same as they are at home. I might be performing patrol duties, pursuing perpetrators, investigating human trafficking, prostitution, or even carrying out administrative tasks. But of course, even though our duties might be the same as usual, everything will be totally different. We will constantly be in a crisis zone.† Hartmut Meyer would be proved correct, perhaps more than he might have liked. When the troop arrives at the airport in Pristina, nothing goes as planned. They find a state of emergency, burning villages, Serbians against Albanians. The same old story. Without any preparation, the German police are deployed immediately, on the very same night, and without proper equipment, providing security for a UN building. Tanks pass by, grenades can be heard exploding in the darkness all around Kosovo’s capital. “If I were to tell you I’m not afraid, I’d definitely be lying,† says this seasoned policeman, as he stands together with his colleagues, fully armed, in front of the main building. It is going to be a long night, and many like it are to follow. A week of deployment abroad under the most difficult circumstances: none of the officers could have imagined anything quite like it.
