SARAJEVO/BELGRADE
On the occasion of International Anti-Corruption Day on Monday, began a two-day regional conference of Southeast European countries in Sarajevo.
The conference, organized by the Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the European Commission (EC), and will be attended by more than 100 participants from regional countries, international organizations and NGO representatives.
The aim of the conference is to review the activities undertaken in the fight against corruption, introducing policies and strategies, exchange of information and experiences, as well as defining the areas that need to improve the fight against corruption, especially in the context of accession to the European Union (EU).
Minister of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina Fahrudin Radoncic reminded that Bosnia is one of the most corrupt countries in Europe, especially in the area of judiciary and proposed to refer to the law on the protection of witnesses or the following year, the state can expect protests.
"My personal assessment is that in Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially next year should be the year of the anti-corruption tsunami. If this tsunami does not happen, the other will happen social rebellion of citizens, revolt of poor people," said Radoncic.
He noted that there are plans to reduce corruption in the country and that law enforcement agencies work hard to implement it.
Senior officials also met at a conference in Belgrade and discussed corruption in the funding of political parties to mark Anti-Corruption Day.
Serbian Parliament Speaker Nebojsa Stefanovic stressed that the former political system tolerated unlimited and uncontrolled use of money and that it has harmed the state.
"It jeopardized our legal system and citizens' confidence in the institutions of the system, people are losing confidence in the functioning of the state and it has jeopardized our international reputation. One consequence of all this is that many citizens stopped paying taxes," said Stevanovic.
Director of the American Organization for International Development in Serbia Susan Fritz referred to the election financing of political parties and said that parties that have the most funds should not dominate at the elections. She added that for this reason organizations and partners who fight against corruption play a key role in a democratic society.
Serbia's Director of the Anti-Corruption Agency Tatjana Babic emphasized the importance and role of the work of the agency, saying that the purpose of the monitoring is "equality of all political subjects and democratization of society with respect to the law."
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