Sergiu Railean

As Technical Monitoring Officer - UAV Operator, I conducted patrols in the area of responsibility of the Donetsk and Mariupol Patrol Hubs aimed at gathering and reporting the information on violations of Minsk agreements as well as on the general (humanitarian) situation in the area of operation. I monitored locally negotiated cease-fires to support the implementation of various projects aimed at improving the humanitarian situation in the area of operation. I worked closely with local authorities, members of local population, and various ethnic and religious groups as well as with international organisations and NGOs in the area in order to fulfil the Mission’s objectives. I was responsible for preparing and executing daily UAV flight operations in the area of responsibility of Donetsk and Mariupol OSCE teams.

As part of my assignment, I was responsible for developing and implementing the “SECUP BiH” - Project for Security Upgrade of Ammunition and Weapons Storage Sites in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I maintained co-operation with International Community present in BiH (EU, EUFOR, UNDP, NATO), with relevant national institutions (BiH MFA, MoD, MoS, MOFTER etc.) and other organizations in the region involved in arms control issues (RACVIAC, SEESAC). I was also monitoring the process of surplus weapons and ammunition destruction in BiH and providing written reports and evaluations to the Head of the Department. I was conducting regular monitoring visits to BiH ammunition/weapons storage sites as well as to the demilitarization facilities. Finally, I was providing expertise and technical assistance to the relevant authorities of BiH in order to improve the country’s control capacity in the area of small arms and light weapons.

During 2009-2010, I worked for RACVIAC - Centre for Security Cooperation, an international, non-profit, regionally owned academic organization in South East Europe (SEE). As subject matter expert and later on as Program Manager within RACVIAC’s Security Sector Reform Pillar I was involved in a great number of SSR related activities. As the Director of the Regional Working Group on Military Base Conversion in cooperation with national authorities of SEE countries I was responsible for organization of seminars, workshops as well as conduct of study trips on SSR related issues to the regional countries. Also, in co-operation with the Centre for European Security Studies from The Netherlands I was responsible for coordination, organization and execution of the “STARLINK” Training Programme on SSR for SEE, consisted of three courses. I am a certified trainer on SSR and the co-author of RACVIAC’s Research Project “Defense Conversion Modalities in South Eastern Europe - Specific Regional Model”. The Research Project was published by RACVIAC in April 2013.