SEECP justice and interior ministers’ conference in Budva - tremendous progress in fighting organised crime

SEECP Justice and Interior Ministers are unanimous in their assessment of the conference as a great step forward in developing mechanisms for the successful battle against organised crime, Montenegrin Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Dusko Markovic told at the closure of the Regional Conference of Justice and Interior Ministers of the South-East European Co-operation Process in Budva.

DPM Markovic said that the conference resulted in adopting the Budva Declaration on boosting regional cooperation in combating organised crime in South-East Europe, pledging further collaboration in strengthening the rule of law, ensuring good governance and transparent legal framework for fighting against corruption and organised crime in the region. The conference also adopted the Joint Declaration of justice and interior ministers related to the approval of the Regional Strategic Document (RSD) for justice and home affairs for the period 2011-2013 and the Action Plan for its implementation.

As Interior Minister Ivan Brajovic remarked, the conference participants underlined as crucial the full and open cooperation of all ministries and organisations in the region in exchanging information regarding any illegal activity that could be undertaken, expressing satisfaction with plenty of concrete proposals in addressing the issues put forward.

According to Ambassador Sarunas Adomavicius, who heads the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, this was “an extremely important international event organised in Montenegro” which sent a message to both the citizens and the international public that it is possible to cooperate and coordinate activities in tackling these crucial challenges.