“Serbia is too shy in the implementation of the Strategy for the fight against corruption,” said the head of the European Union Delegation in Serbia, Emanuele Giaufret, in a speech at the regional forum “Good governance and anti-corruption policies in a time of geopolitical uncertainty”, while the ambassador of the United States of America, Christopher Hill, emphasized that that struggle is crucial for the future of every society.
Giaufret emphasized that the fight against corruption is a key issue for EU enlargement, but also for citizens and those who do business in Serbia. He also pointed out that at the global level, as well as in Serbia, there is stagnation in the fight against corruption.
“The Russian aggression against Ukraine and the spread of Russian influence shows that we need to have good institutions, transparent processes and equal practices for citizens and companies,” said Giaufret, assessing that Serbia did not sufficiently apply the anti-corruption strategy that was adopted almost a decade ago.
“That strategy did not produce the expected results, so we encourage Serbia to adopt a new strategy with an Action Plan, with an appropriate budget for its implementation. We also encourage the continuation of cooperation with the GRECO organization and the implementation of their recommendations”, Giaufret said, adding that the EU is also noticing slight progress in the field of changes to the Constitution and the work of the Ministry of Justice on a set of laws that are expected to improve the situation in the judiciary.
Giaufret emphasized that through direct budget support, the EU allocated 30 million euros for the projects of the Ministry of Justice, as well as another 18 million euros for advisory support in the fight against corruption within the negotiation chapters 23 and 24.
US Ambassador Christopher Hill said that the US considers the fight against corruption crucial in the societies with which it cooperates.
“The US, like the EU, is very clear when they say that anti-corruption regulations should be applied in practice, but it is also clear that international crime is on the rise more than international cooperation in the fight against it,” Hill said.
He underlined that he hopes that in the future there will be more cooperation and more extradition of criminals and criminals, and that bilateral and multilateral cooperation will develop in this regard.
“It’s very important to bring these people to justice and make them face what they did,” Hill concluded.