Ministers Zuidoost Europa akkoord over strategie tegen criminaliteit (en)

Brijuni/Croatia, 23.09.2005 - Ministers of the Interior and senior officials from south-eastern Europe today adopted a strategy against organised and economic crime in this region. Meeting on Brijuni Island (Croatia), Ministers of Interior and Security from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro and "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", together with the Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Police and Justice in Kosovo, signed a joint declaration endorsing the strategy.

The meeting was 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, www.coe.int/cards-police).

The strategy has been elaborated by experts from south-eastern Europe with the support of the CARPO project. It is based on European standards and good practice and provides for tools such as financial investigations, witness protection mechanisms, crime analyses, the use of special investigative means and cross-border co-operation. Such tools will help countries counter the threat that economic and organised crime poses to democracy, the rule of law, human rights and economic progress in south-eastern Europe.

Contact:

Alexander SEGER ; Directorate General of Legal Affairs, Council of Europe

Mobile: +33 (0)6 62 28 82 61

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