We believe in the Serbian Government’s capacity to achieve the desired goals in the areas of the rule of law, fundamental rights and good governance, which is why we continue to support it very strongly.
Serbia’s progress in the economic area has proved remarkable in the last few years. However, structural reforms related to this and various other sectors have to be approved and then implemented to show a positive effect on the state administration and overall credibility. Further improvements are needed in the areas of the rule of law, fundamental rights and good governance: reforms in the field of the judiciary and public administration are key actions, as are enforcement in the fight against corruption and organised crime, as well as additional developments on media freedom.
We believe in the Serbian Government’s capacity to achieve the desired goals, which is why we continue to support it very strongly. We have always been very sympathetic towards Serbia’s aspirations to join the EU, because its great potential has always been very clear to us. There could not be better proof of this than Serbia’s successful vaccination campaign and significant economic achievements.
We have always been very sympathetic towards Serbia’s aspirations to join the EU, because its great potential has always been very clear to us. Serbia’s successful vaccination campaign and significant economic achievements are good example of that potential.
Going more into detail about Italy’s assistance to Serbia in various aspects, we have a long story of cooperation with Serbia, also under the umbrella of multilateral programmes. As an example, the fight against corruption and organised crime is the key priority of IPA assistance in the area of the rule of law. Around 16 million euros has been mobilised to support Serbia in preventing and fighting corruption and organised crime since 2013.
It was on 12th May that the project “Countering Serious Crime in the Western Balkans”, which is being jointly implemented by the Italian Ministry of Internal Affairs and co-financed by the European Commission, organised the first of three online workshops on SPOC – Single Point of Contact(s) – and Interoperability, entitled “Awareness: the Impact of Interoperability on Police Cooperation and Daily Work”.
These workshops will create a unique opportunity for an in-depth discussion on preventative and enforcement issues of common interest with regard to specific geo-criminal areas. It aims to identify solutions that can facilitate direct and effective cooperation among countries by putting into practise more coherence in the multitude of information systems and databases created for law enforcement purposes, in line with the actual strong need to fight crime and terrorism.
