SETimes.comMontenegro Holds Conference on Combating Regional Corruption
25/10/2004
A two-day conference in Podgorica earlier this month focused on improving co-operation and exchanging information as part of the fight against corruption in Southeast Europe.
By Antonela Krstovic for Southeast European Times in Podgorica - 25/10/04
A two-day conference on strengthening the fight against regional corruption was held in Podgorica earlier this month. The event was a joint effort of the Stability Pact Anti-Corruption Initiative, the OSCE Mission in Serbia-Montenegro, and the Montenegrin government's Anti-Corruption Initiative.
The focus was on improving co-operation and exchanging experiences and information among countries in the region, with an eye to boosting the efficiency of anti-corruption efforts. The conference also discussed the elimination of shortcomings in penal legislation which pose an obstacle to investigative procedures and the provision of evidence.
Participants included district attorneys, judges, police forces and intelligence personnel from Southeast European countries, as well as representatives of the EU, bilateral donors and a group that advises district attorneys in the region.
Deputy Prime Minister Dragan Djurovic, who is also Montenegro's interior minister, opened the proceedings. Other speakers included Executive Secretary of the Regional Secretariat of the Stability Pact Anti-corruption Initiative Veselin Sukovic and the head of the OSCE office in Podgorica, Rudolf Bogner.
Djurovic said that countries in the region need to be resolute in taking measures to fight corruption, especially through continuous reforms of legal, economic and financial systems and the implementation of new laws. Montenegro is in the final phase of creating a legislative framework -- including new laws on criminal procedures and the establishment of a special prosecutor for organised crime -- which will help meet international standards for fighting these types of crime, the minister said.
He also announced that the government will soon adopt a strategy -- developed in consultation with the Council of Europe and the OSCE -- for the fight against corruption and organised crime.
Sukovic, meanwhile, described corruption is a dangerous and complicated phenomenon which needs to be contained through co-ordinated activities of state organs, NGOs and civil society, accompanied by international co-operation.
Bogner said combating high-level corruption is becoming a major challenge in Southeast European countries, especially since it is apparent that countries which are capable of successfully tackling this problem will experience faster progress on their road to EU membership. Efficiency in gathering evidence, prosecuting cases and holding trials constitute an essential test for verifying a country's institutional maturity, he said.
Punishing corruption is not only important for a country's credibility, Bogner added, but also helps raise public awareness about the issue