Today, Minister of Justice Nela Kuburović and the Republic Prosecutor Zagorka Dolovac met with the Prosecutor General of Romania Augustin Lazăr to discuss the continuation of the two countries’ cooperation in fight against organised crime and corruption. Minister Kuburović noted that the signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation between the Serbian Republic Prosecutor’s Office and the Romanian Prosecutor’s Office the previous day was another proof of an excellent cooperation between the two countries. She highlighted that the Ministry of Justice and the Republic of Serbia were making great efforts towards advancing the fight against organised crime, identifying the Memorandum of Cooperation with the Romanian Prosecution Office as one step further in that direction.
As an example of those efforts, she referred to the new Organisation and Competencies of Government Authorities in Fighting Organised Crime, Terrorism and Corruption Act, the application of which was due on 1 March 2018. She explained that the Act would introduce a new organisation of the work and new competencies of the courts and prosecutor’s offices for the purpose of creating an effective crime and corruption fighting mechanism.
In terms of Serbia’s path to European integration, Minister Kuburović noted the significant support Romania was giving Serbia and how greatly important Romania’s experiences were to Serbia for achieving faster and greater progress in obtaining a full EU membership.
The Republic Prosecutor said that the cooperation between the two countries’ public prosecutor’s offices in fighting transnational crime, organised crime, trafficking of persons and smuggling of narcotics had been very good, and that the signed Memorandum represented a simple formalisation of that cooperation which gave a basis for its continued improvement. Dolovac added that the Ministry of Justice had given unequivocal support to the signing of the Memorandum.
The Prosecutor General of Romani, too, said that the signed Memorandum was a solid basis for requests between the two countries to be processed even more efficiently, expressing his assurance that the cooperation would be enhanced even further. He added that it was important for the two countries to exchange and share examples of good practices, noting that Romania would remain available to Serbia for all matters involving its experience in the process of joining the EU.