With the first online meeting, cooperation between the municipalities of Zavodska and Domžale officially began within the framework of the development project of the Republic of Slovenia, “Reconstruction of Ukraine”, which is supported by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia in cooperation with ‘U-LEAD with Europe’.
On 30 August 2023, the Centre for European Perspective held the first online working meeting between the mayor of the Ukrainian municipality of Zavodske and the mayor of the Slovenian municipality of Domžale, which officially started their cooperation in the project “Reconstruction of Ukraine”. In the next 18 months, a mentoring program will be implemented in Slovenia, which will strengthen the capacities of the municipality of Zavodske in the field of post-conflict reconstruction and modernization and contribute to other goals of long-term international cooperation. The targeted transfer of knowledge and experience during the project is guided by the specific needs of the municipality of Zavodske, which is currently facing complex challenges both in the provision of services that its residents rely on the most in this time of crisis as well as challenges in the field of local development and modernization.
The three-week mentoring visit to Domžale will take place in October 2023. It will transfer helpful experience and knowledge in establishing an effective civil protection system and responding to natural and other disasters, which, according to the city council secretary, are the Institute’s priority topics. Competent Slovenian state institutions will transfer key knowledge and experience to the mentees in planning and management at the national (intersectoral) level and the role of the local level. The Civil Defense of the Municipality of Domžale, fire brigades and other local organizations will also contribute, and they will also show the mentees the practical aspects of their work, including recent experiences of responding to devastating floods. The Municipality of Zavodske, with the support of Slovenian experts, will prepare plans or strategic documents that will contribute to more efficient planning and acquisition of financial resources in relevant areas.
Background
From 2023 to 2024, the Center for the European Perspective (CEP) will implement the project “Post-conflict Reconstruction in Ukraine”, financed by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia. The project is taking place in cooperation with ‘U-LEAD with Europe’, implemented in Ukraine by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit – GIZ. The project will enable the contribution of five Slovenian municipalities (Domžale, Hrastnik, Idrija, Kočevje and Murska Sobota) in the role of mentors to the partner municipalities of Bucha, Drohobych, Zavodske, Tiachiv and Vilnohirsk.
The mentoring municipalities will help the target municipalities (‘hromadam’) in Ukraine to face those challenges of early reconstruction and modernization, which will be easier to overcome in this kind of cooperation and will help to strengthen their capacities. Thus, the mentoring program for key representatives of the mentioned target municipalities, who will be visiting the mentoring municipalities in the Republic of Slovenia during this time, will contain the transfer of knowledge, experience and good practices, including those related to the technical requirements of the process of Ukraine’s approximation to the EU. By the end of 2024, the target municipalities will, with the help of the project’s support, also develop strategic tools for planning reconstruction and modernization, planning resources and obtaining financial resources adapted to the needs of each municipality.
Slovenia’s key contribution will have a positive impact on the lives of people in Ukrainian communities and their regions by helping to strengthen local capacities, which are most relied on in this time of crisis, in a sustainable manner and with appropriate placement, among other ongoing early recovery measures in Ukraine its inhabitants. While cooperation between some Slovenian and Ukrainian municipalities has already been established, the project will enable new opportunities for partnerships and further cooperation between Slovenia and Ukraine – both in post-conflict reconstruction and in meeting the requirements on its path to EU membership.
In North Macedonia, activities to strengthen the capacity of Macedonian institutions to carry out financial investigations continued between 3 and 7 July 2023 in the framework of the project ” Support in Chapter 24 – Financial investigations “. The project is being implemented with Slovenian development assistance. This was the second consultation this year, followed by workshops. Both activities focused on the processing of real cases and the procedures for conducting financial investigations in line with EU standards.
The consultations took place in Skopje, and the workshops that followed in the east of the country (Kočani). The activities were conducted with the participation of Slovenian experts from the Specialised State Prosecution Office, the Financial Administration, and the Police, while on the Macedonian side, they were attended by representatives of the institutions responsible for financial investigations in North Macedonia from the ranks of the Public Prosecution Office, the Ministry of the Interior (Police), the Financial Police and the Customs Administration. The consultations were first held with each institution individually and then continued with group work in the workshop part of the program, involving all institutions at the same time.
Participants in the consultations and workshops renewed their gratitude once again to Slovenia and representatives of Slovenian investigative and prosecuting authorities for their help and support in implementing changes in their institutions in the context of EU accession regarding the conduct of financial investigations and the confiscation of assets of illicit origin and proceeds of crime. In particular, they were thankful to the Slovenian experts for sharing their knowledge, advice, and practical experience in dealing with real cases. The discussion gave them the opportunity to check and validate their practices and to identify areas and steps that still need to be improved to progress. As extremely positive and welcome, the Macedonian participants saw the opportunity to bring together the different Macedonian institutions in charge of financial investigations in the same place and the possibility to exchange experiences and good practices among them at the same time. They also welcomed the fact that they will be able to put into practice immediately everything they have learned in the consultations and workshops.
Activities are funded by the Republic of Slovenia through its International Development Cooperation Programme and implemented in cooperation with the State Prosecution, Financial Administration, Ministry of the Interior, and the Police of the Republic of Slovenia.
With Slovenian development assistance, capacity-building activities in financial investigations will continue in North Macedonia between 4 and 7 July 2023.
In the framework of the project “Support in Chapter 24 – Financial investigations”, consultations and workshops will be held for the institutions responsible for financial investigations in North Macedonia. During consultations and workshops, Slovene experts from the Specialised State Prosecutor’s Office, the Financial Administration and the Police will share their experience in dealing with real-life cases with their Macedonian colleagues.
Activities are funded by the Republic of Slovenia through its International Development Cooperation Programme and implemented in cooperation with the State Prosecution, Financial Administration, Ministry of the Interior, and the Police of the Republic of Slovenia.
On 14-15 June 2023, in the framework of the “Support in Chapter 24 – Financial investigations”, project meetings were held in Skopje with representatives of the interested professional and international community in North Macedonia. Meetings were held at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the OSCE Mission in Skopje, and the Development Cooperation Section of the Embassy of Sweden, which currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU. During the meetings, the interlocutors were presented with information on activities carried out since 2019 with Slovenian development assistance in North Macedonia in the field of capacity building of the Macedonian institutions responsible for financial investigations, the challenges they are facing on the way to improving their results, the changes and progress they have already achieved in the framework of the project, as well as the ones that are still ahead of them on the path of European integration.
The meetings with the international community were followed by discussions with legal expert Prof. Dr Vlado Kambovski, President of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, on the changes and adjustments to the legislation that are needed in North Macedonia to conduct financial investigations more effectively according to EU criteria and standards.
The meetings with the interested professional and international community were also an opportunity to discuss the possibilities of cooperation and networking in the implementation of Slovenian development assistance programs aimed at Macedonian institutions to prevent illicit financial flows as effectively as possible, to accelerate activities to confiscate the proceeds of crime and property of illegal origin, to combat the illicit arms trade and, more generally, to fight all forms of organized crime and corruption in North Macedonia as successfully as possible, as any progress the country makes in these areas will naturally be mirrored beyond its borders.
Photo: Meeting with the representatives of UNODC and the Swedish Embassy in Skopje.
Activities are funded by the Republic of Slovenia through its International Development Cooperation Programme and implemented in cooperation with the State Prosecution, Financial Administration, Ministry of the Interior, and the Police of the Republic of Slovenia.
On 14-15 June 2023, in the framework of the “Support in Chapter 24 – Financial investigations” project meetings with be held in Skopje with representatives of the interested professional and international community in North Macedonia.
The meetings will be aimed at presenting the activities implemented with Slovenian development assistance in North Macedonia in the field of financial investigations and the progress that the Macedonian institutions responsible for financial investigations within the framework of the project are pursuing and achieving on the path toward full EU membership.
Activities are funded by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and the Republic of Slovenia through its International Development Cooperation Programme and implemented in cooperation with the State Prosecution, Financial Administration, Ministry of the Interior, and the Police of the Republic of Slovenia.
Slovenian development assistance to North Macedonia under Chapter 24 in the area of financial investigations continues in the programming period 2023-2024. This is a third two-year project aimed at strengthening the capacity of Macedonian law enforcement and prosecution authorities to carry out financial investigations in line with EU criteria and standards, with the aim of confiscating proceeds of crime and assets that cannot be proven to have been acquired through legitimate means.
The start of North Macedonia’s accession negotiations for EU membership and the European Commission’s recommendations that more needs to be done in the coming period to improve the effectiveness of law enforcement in fighting financial crime provide further motivation for the Macedonian law enforcement and prosecution authorities to strengthen their capacities with the aim of improving results in the field of financial investigations.
The institutions responsible for financial investigations in North Macedonia rely on the expertise of the Republic of Slovenia to develop their capacity in the field of financial investigations. In the past period, an excellent partnership and trust have been established in which Macedonian institutions have adopted the Common Guidelines for Financial Investigations on the basis of Slovenian experience and, under the mentorship of Slovenian experts devoted themselves to ensuring the conditions for their implementation.
Thus, between 8 and 10 May 2023, a kick-off meeting and first consultations with representatives of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Financial Police, the Customs Administration and the Ministry of Interior took place in Skopje and Gevgelija, North Macedonia, within the framework of the project “Chapter 24 Assistance – Financial Investigations”. Slovenian expert delegation led by the programme director conducted its expert visit with the involvement of the state prosecutor of the Specialised prosecution office and an expert in the valuation and calculation of assets of illicit origin.
Activities are funded by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia through its International Development Cooperation Programme and implemented in cooperation with the State Prosecution, Financial Administration, Ministry of the Interior, and the Police of the Republic of Slovenia.
