Deputy Head of EU Delegation to Serbia: Success in Combating Corruption Is Measures by Confiscated Assets and Sanctions

Plamena Halacheva (BETAPHOTO/MILAN ILIC)

Deputy Head of EU Delegation to Serbia Plamena Halacheva said on Dec. 10 that success in combating corruption was measured based on confiscated assets gained by criminal activity and enforced sanctions, which would send across a clear message that crime and corruption did not pay off.

Speaking at a conference in Belgrade focusing on combating corruption, Halacheva said that fighting corruption was not only an ethical issue, but an economic imperative, crucial for a living standard of citizens.

Jan Braathu, head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, stressed that corruption was a crime, as it posed a major threat to the rule of law and had been consuming huge amounts of public resources, preventing public services from reaching the users and undermining trust in public institutions. “Today, the goal is to make all public officials personally accountable for cases of corruption,” Braathu said.

Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said that no success in combating corruption could be achieved without arrests, stressing that “fighting corruption is one of the priorities of the Serbian police.”  

Ahead of the conference held at Belgrade Metropol Hotel, MPs of the Freedom and Justice Party and SRCE (Serbian Center) unfolded a banner outside the hotel reading “Corruption kills,” and attempted to enter the conference hall, but the security prevented them from asking the authorities why they were lying about combating corruption. After the conference, Dacic took the back exit, while Prime Minister Milos Vucevic did not show up, although his presence had been earlier announced.