Strengthening crowd management preparedness: CEPOL workshop on violent public protests held in Lisbon

From 8 to 10 July 2025, the CEPOL Workshop on Violent Public Protests was held at Guarda Nacional Republicana's premisses, in Lisbon, Portugal. Organised under the framework of CEPOL, this workshop was co-hosted by the Portuguese National Republican Guard (GNR) through a joint effort between the Escola da Guarda (GNR School) and the Intervention Unit.

The main objective of this training activity was to enhance the efficiency and coordination of public order units across Europe when dealing with new and increasingly violent forms of protest. The course focused on sharing national experiences and lessons learned, especially in the areas of risk assessment and crowd control practices, with a view to improving collective readiness for future public security challenges across the EU.

The workshop welcomed 26 participants, including 24 law enforcement officials from EU Member States, representing Belgium, Cyprus, Czechia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Portugal. The event also included representatives from EU candidate countries, namely Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova.

Training sessions were conducted by renowned experts, including instructors and speakers from the Portuguese GNR, the German Police University, the Belgian Federal Police, the Copenhagen Police (Denmark), the French Gendarmerie and National Police, the Swedish Police Authority, and the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee.

This collaborative effort under CEPOL's framework further contributes to reinforcing EU law enforcement cooperation in the face of complex and evolving public order threats.

News from partners: Contributions are directly provided by CEPOL partners and published in this section “as is”. As a result, CEPOL shall hold no responsibility in the accuracy of content provided by the partner. Opinions reflected in these news from partners shall not be deemed to represent CEPOL’s Management or staff’s opinion.