Ministers Binnenlandse Zaken uit Zuidoost Europa bespreken strategie tegen grensoverschrijdende misdaadsyndicaten (en)

Strasbourg, 19.09.2005 - Ministers of the Interior and senior officials from south-eastern Europe will meet on Brijuni Island (Croatia) on 22 and 23 September to finalise a strategy against organised and economic crime in this region. The meeting is organised jointly by the Council of Europe and the Ministry of the Interior of Croatia, within the framework of the "CARPO" regional project against serious crime in south-eastern Europe (CARPO is a joint project of the Council of Europe and the European Commission).

Organised and other forms of serious crime represent a threat to democracy, the rule of law and human rights, as well as to economic progress. In response, Ministers will finalise a regional strategy providing tools such as financial investigations, witness protection mechanisms, crime analyses, the use of special investigative means and cross-border co-operation.

South-eastern Europe has been particularly affected by such crime and the economic power, regional and transnational connections, sophisticated methods and the corruptive impact associated with it. This is the main conclusion of a report on organised and economic crime in south-eastern Europe which has just been released by the CARPO project (report available at www.coe.int/cards-police).

The meeting will be open to the press, with the exception of technical level meetings of senior officials.

Contacts in Brijuni:

Alexander SEGER/Tanya PESHOVSKA

Directorate General of Legal Affairs, Council of Europe

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