Serbia's goal is to eradicate money laundering or at least minimise it

by Michael Roberts - 01.06.2011

Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic said yesterday that Serbia's goal is to eradicate money laundering or at least minimise it.

Cvetkovic told a conference on combating money laundering and financing terrorism in the context of European integration of Serbia held in the Continental Hotel that these criminal acts lead to undermining the stability of all countries, threaten the reform and competition, foreign investment, security and reputation of the country.

He stressed that Serbia is trying to combat these crimes by making modern comprehensive legislation, improving the cooperation in the region as well as cooperation with international financial institutions.

The Prime Minister pointed out that this struggle is certainly long, difficult and exhausting, and pointed out that organised crime and money laundering are equal kinds of crimes.

Illegal acquisition of property is a major, but not the only motive for criminal activity, and to enjoy the benefits, criminals falsely show that the property is lawful, he explained and added that the key to a successful fight is to disable the creation of favourable conditions for the money to be introduced into legal channels.

Cvetkovic said that Serbia has been struggling for almost a decade against these acts, but noted that the key to a successful fight is good cooperation of all stakeholders, as well as international cooperation and exchange of data.

Strengthening cooperation between police, prosecutors and the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) will improve and strengthen the fight against money laundering, he said.

Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Vincent Degert said that Serbia has intensified its efforts to combat economic crime and said that this type of crime remains a threat to democracy and the rule of law.

The EU noted that Serbia has made significant progress in this area in 2009 and 2010, he said.

He stated that building financial system must continue in order to detect and prevent money laundering and expressed the belief that there is political will to fight against economic crime.

Director of Cooperation at the Council of Europe Maria Ruotanen pointed out that the prevention of money laundering and financing terrorism is essential to the development of democracy and the rule of law, adding that the Serbian government in previous years has taken a lot of courageous steps in this area.

Today's meeting represents the beginning of a joint project of the EU and the Council of Europe in order to help the fight against money laundering and financing terrorism and the main beneficiary of the project is the Directorate for Anti-Money Laundering.

The project, whose implementation is three years and is worth €2.2 million, is financed by the EU and the Council of Europe.

Source: Balkans.Com