European Security Academy
{{Short description|Training centre in Wroclaw, Poland}}
{{Infobox company
| name = European Security Academy
| logo = File:ESA Logo - steel.jpg
| type = Training centre
| traded_as = European Security Academy, EUSECA
| industry = Defence and Security
| founded = {{start date and age|1992}}
| founder = Andrzej Bryl
| hq_location = Wroclaw, Poland
| area_served = Worldwide
| key_people = Dr Andrzej Bryl (CEO)
| services = Security training, security consulting, military training
| website = {{url|https://www.euseca.com}}
}}
The European Security Academy (ESA) has been established in 1992 by Andrzej Bryl as the Special Training Centre that provides with training services within the scope of personal protection, maritime protection, protection in a high-risk environment (PMC), first aid and shooting.{{Cite web|title=Private Military Contractor - Operation POLAND|url=https://www.varusteleka.com/en/article/private-military-contractor-operation-poland/53057|website=Varusteleka.com|language=en|access-date=2020-05-29}}{{Cite web|title=Polish camp trains security contractors for mission impossible|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/afp-polish-camp-trains-security-contractors-for-mission-impossible-2015-5|last=Waszak|first=Stanislaw|website=Business Insider|access-date=2020-06-09}} It performs also security-related consultancy services.{{Cite web|title=Jak pracują elitarni ochroniarze? - w Men's Health|url=https://www.menshealth.pl/sprawy/Jak-pracuja-elitarni-ochroniarze,13066,1|website=Men's Health Polska|access-date=2020-05-29}} The ESA training centre is located in west Poland.{{Cite web|title=Zbudowali kopię Mogadiszu, żeby ćwiczyć ochronę VIP-ów|url=https://tvn24.pl/poznan/zbudowali-kopie-mogadiszu-zeby-cwiczyc-ochrone-vip-ow-ra332756-3434295|access-date=2020-06-10|website=TVN24}}
History
In 2009, the organization was presented for the first time on the IWA trade fair in Nuremberg. From 2010–2012, the company was also presented on the LAAD fair in Brazil, Milipol in Qatar, and on the Defence EXPO in Thailand.{{Cite web|date=2013-02-11|title=The European Security Academy course - Circuit Magazine -|url=https://circuit-magazine.com/the-european-security-academy-course/|access-date=2020-05-29|website=Circuit Magazine|language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2014-08-31 |title=TEASER - Inside European Security Academy in Poland (EUSECA) |url=https://operationnels.com/2014/08/31/teaser-inside-european-security-academy-in-poland-euseca/ |access-date=2020-06-12 |website=Opérationnels – Soutien, Logistique, Défense, Sécurité |language=fr-FR}}
In 2010, the European Security Academy organised comprehensive training for the Libyan Government Protection Bureau. It was a four-month project preparing agents for their service for the state VIPs, including Muammar Gaddafi and members of his family.{{Cite web|title=Ochroniarzy Kadafiego szkolili Polacy|url=https://wiadomosci.wp.pl/ochroniarzy-kadafiego-szkolili-polacy-6082132865496193a|last=S.A|first=Wirtualna Polska Media|date=2012-02-16|website=wiadomosci.wp.pl|language=pl|access-date=2020-05-29}}{{Cite web|title=Wyborcza.pl|url=https://wyborcza.pl/1,75398,11179563,Libijski_trop_GROM_owcow.html?disableRedirects=true|website=wyborcza.pl|access-date=2020-06-12}}
In 2013, Discovery Channel broadcast the program Secret World of Bodyguards. It included six episodes showing training activities in the European Security Academy. One year later, Canal+ broadcast another ten episodes of the series titled Elite Bodyguards, which is a sequel of Secret Bodyguards, showing activities of the ESA trainers and trainees in operations all over the world – among others in Iraq, Brazil, Colombia, or the Gulf of Aden.{{Cite web|title=Secret World of Bodyguards : Programs : Discovery Channel : Discovery Press Web|url=https://press.discovery.com/emea/dsc/programs/secret-world-bodyguards/|website=press.discovery.com|access-date=2020-05-29}}{{Cite web|title=Elita bodyguardów (seria dokumentalna, USA, 2016)|url=https://tv.pl.canalplus.com/dokument-elita-bodyguardow_45429|website=tv.pl.canalplus.com|language=pl|access-date=2020-06-14|archive-date=2020-06-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200602043944/https://tv.pl.canalplus.com/dokument-elita-bodyguardow_45429|url-status=dead}}
The European Security Academy is accredited by the British awarding bodies such as City & Guilds, Pearson or Highfield.{{Citation|title=Private security companies: stricter rules and more oversight|url=https://multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/en/private-security-companies-stricter-rules-and-more-oversight_N02-PUB-170503-PSC_ev|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-06-14}}{{Cite web|last=TVN|first=Dzień Dobry|date=2014-11-22|title=Są gotowi "przyjąć kulę" za VIP-a|url=https://dziendobry.tvn.pl/a/sa-gotowi-przyjac-kule-za-vip-a|access-date=2020-06-14|website=dziendobry.tvn.pl|language=pl}}
ESA trains police officers and soldiers and has trained units from the European Union, such as a special intervention squad of the military police from Poland and the Dutch special task force BSB-KMAR.{{Cite web|title=De 12 mooiste foto's... - 02 - KMarMagazine|url=https://magazines.defensie.nl/kmarmagazine/2020/02/02_12_mooiste_fotos_02-2020|access-date=2020-06-25|website=magazines.defensie.nl|language=nl-NL}}{{Cite web|title=Oddział Specjalny Żandarmerii Wojskowej w Warszawie - SZKOLENIA ŻOŁNIERZY WYDZIAŁU OCHRONY W EUROPEAN SECURITY ACADEMY|url=https://oszwwarszawa.wp.mil.pl/pl/articlesaktualnosci-u/2019-10-31u-szkolenia-zonierzy-wydziau-ochrony-w-european-security-academy/|access-date=2020-06-26|website=oszwwarszawa.wp.mil.pl}}{{Cite web|title=BSB w ESA|url=https://www.special-ops.pl/aktualnosc/id4396|access-date=2020-06-26|website=Special-Ops.pl - Portal Ludzi Akcji|language=pl}}
While ESA claims to "carefully [check] all applicants’ backgrounds and [...] not train individuals with links to the far-right", Bellingcat has documented white supremacists repeatedly training at the ESA.{{Cite web |last=Woroncow |first=Jakub |date=2022-08-10 |title=Why Did a Major European Security Firm Train White Supremacists (Again)? |url=https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2022/08/10/why-did-a-major-european-security-firm-train-white-supremacists-again/ |access-date=2022-08-20 |website=Bellingcat |language=en-GB}}
References
External links
- {{Official website|https://www.euseca.com}}