UNMIK/PR/1185
PRISTINA – On 18 May 2004 in Bucharest, the DSRSG for Police and Justice Jean-Christian Cady addressed a Conference of the Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs of the South East Europe Cooperation Process (SEECP) on UNMIK’s efforts to fight organized crime and corruption. During the conference held on 17-18 May, Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs of the Balkan countries and Turkey adopted a statement on a joint campaign to fight organized crime and corruption.
Outlining UNMIK’s priorities in the fight against organised crime DSRSG Jean-Christian Cady said, “The cornerstones of our efforts have been, and are, regional cooperation, bilateral cooperation, and the development of legal tools and operational capacity. In the recent year, we have begun to see the fruits of our labour with success in operations and investigations that are closely linked to the improved cooperation taking place at all levels. UNMIK now has police cooperation agreements with all its neighbours: Serbia and Montenegro, Albania and FYROM which pave the way for effective joint endeavors. In the fight against organized crime, one of UNMIK’s priorities is the fight against trafficking of women and prostitution in order to disrupt networks that are operational in the Balkans and Western Europe.”
“The Financial Investigation Unit (FIU) is particularly active in investigating individuals, both internationals and locals for corruption. The FIU, together with representatives of the Office of Internal Oversight Services, an UN organization, and OLAF the European Anti-Fraud Office, are part of the newly formed Investigation Task Force, established in the fall of last year.”
SEECP is a regional cooperation structure that comprises Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, FYROM, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro and Turkey. UNMIK and Croatia have observer status.