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.
To move forward on the path to the EU and achieve European standards in the field of financial investigations and procedures for confiscating proceeds of crime and assets of illegal origin, North Macedonia has relied on the knowledge and experience of Slovenia, which has been assisting North Macedonia in this area through international development cooperation and humanitarian aid programs since 2019.
In 2019, the institutions responsible for financial investigations in North Macedonia adopted the Common Guidelines for Financial Investigations based on the Slovenian experience. They further concluded that the Guidelines provide a good starting point for an efficient and effective approach to strategic and operational planning of financial investigations. In 2021-2022, the Macedonian institutions, with Slovenian experts’ support and cooperation, strengthened their capacity to put the Common Guidelines into practice in the framework of the project “Chapter 24 Assistance – Financial Investigations”. At the end of 2022, the Macedonian investigative and law enforcement authorities dealing with financial investigations took the initiative to strengthen financial investigation capacities in 2023-2024. With the development assistance of the Republic of Slovenia so far, they have achieved a significant mindset breakthrough and some progress towards European standards in the field of financial investigations. They are aware that they not only need to proceed with activities. They also need to accelerate their dynamics. Slovenia will continue to support them in this process over the next two years with development assistance.
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 the Interior will take place in North Macedonia between 8 and 10 May 2023. Representatives who have received training in the past period will also attend the consultations. The reunion of Macedonian investigators with Slovenian experts will be an opportunity to discuss how to apply theoretical and classroom knowledge appropriately in real-life situations and cases, considering the criteria applicable in the EU.
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.
The third workshop for the Working Group in charge of communication in the negotiation process on the content of Chapter 24 was held in Strumica, North Macedonia, from 13-15 December. During the workshops, the members of the group, coming from the Ministry of the Interior, the Financial Police, the Customs Administration, the Ministry of Justice, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and the National Security Agency, continued to strengthen their communication capacities both in the area of content and in the area of communication skills and techniques.
After years of waiting, North Macedonia finally started its EU membership negotiations this summer. The first reviews of alignment with the EU acquis have already started, so adequate and good communication of the Working Group with all stakeholders and in all directions is of utmost importance. Practical exercises and experiences from other countries are particularly welcome.
The participants of the workshops in Strumica received training in communication on the fight against organised crime (financial investigations, money laundering), migration (legal and illegal migration, readmission), and border management through interactive exercises and based on current messages from the latest EC Progress Report on North Macedonia. The exercises were conducted in two directions: on the one hand, training in understanding or interpreting the messages and information provided by the EC in the Progress Report, and on the other hand, training in information transfer or reporting back to the EC team members on the achievements and work carried out by North Macedonia.
The workshops also gave participants the opportunity to learn about the experience of communication in the negotiation process with colleagues from Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia. They were very grateful for guidance on their good practices and advice on how to avoid bad ones.
The practical exercises also offered the participants training to improve their oral and written communication skills and techniques, both with domestic and foreign audiences.
These were the last workshops of the project Communication in Negotiation Chapter 24, which is implemented with Slovenian international development assistance from January 1, 2021, and ends on 31 December, 2022. The members of the Working Group in charge of communication in the negotiation process on the content of Chapter 24 confirmed that their communication capacities have been greatly strengthened and that they have made significant progress in this area. They expressed their deep appreciation for the knowledge, guidance, and training they have received and considered it extremely useful for the work they are doing and the work that lies ahead of them on the road to the EU.
The project is part of the activities of Slovenia’s Development Cooperation Programme, financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia.
The Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Serbia, Bratislav Gašić is in Slovenia today where he will meet with the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia mag. Tatjana Bobnar. They will discuss current issues in the field of internal affairs and strengthen bilateral cooperation as well as cooperation in the region. For 14 years, the Ministries have been cooperating within the framework of the Republic of Slovenia’s international development assistance, through which Slovenia has been providing assistance to Serbia in achieving the criteria for joining the EU.
One of the more visible projects in the field of development assistance is the strengthening of patrol management efficiency, which has been running since 2019. In the framework of the project, the Slovenian police provide assistance to the Serbian police in implementing a system for more efficient and coordinated work of police officers in the field, for their faster response to people in need, and for better responsiveness to the prevention of illegal migration. The system also contributes to the greater safety of police officers on duty and the overall safety of Serbian citizens. The goal of the project is a joint and coordinated fight against organized crime, prevention of illegal migration and timely assistance to citizens.
During the migrant crisis, the need for better border control and better containment of illegal migration appeared in the border area. At the time, the Serbian police did not yet have a system in place for the efficient management of patrols. The new system is a combination of Slovenian knowledge and experience as well as modern information and communication technology compliant with European standards and designed according to the needs of Serbian police officers. For the implementation of the system, the already existing Serbian resources have been used.
After the successful pilot project (2019-2020), the second phase of the project took place in the period 2021-2022. During this time, the system was successfully implemented in 98 organizational units of the Serbian police, in 14 out of 27 police directorates and in 5 out of 6 regional border police centres.
The new system provides a better insight into which patrols are available at what time, making their work more efficient. The system, at the same time, enables analysis of past work and better planning for future work. The quality of police work is measured as the time required for police to arrive to the location and take action from the time the call to the police was made. To shorten the response time of police units and for the action to be taken as flawlessly and as correctly as possible, it is extremely important for police units to have sufficient, good, fast, and accurate information on the ground when taking action.
The project period 2021-2022 is coming to an end. The last activity took place between 23 and 25 November in Kragujevac, where the final workshops were held. In Kragujevac, 94 leading representatives of the organizational units of the Serbian police using the new patrol management system gathered. The event was also attended by Slovenian colleagues who helped in developing and implementing the system. Igor Ciperle, deputy general director of the Police of the Republic of Slovenia, participated as a distinguished guest. As a sign of gratitude for all the help and cooperation in strengthening friendly ties between two important state institutions, he received a plaque from the Directorate of the Police of the Republic of Serbia.
The event ended with a ceremonial handover of a donation of computer equipment, received by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Serbia as part of the ‘Strengthening of Patrol Management Capacities project’, financed by the International Development Cooperation Program of the Republic of Slovenia 2021-2022.
The results of cooperation in the field of strengthening patrol management capacity have so far been extremely good. It is vital to continue with the work and include all police directorates in the system and implement activities to permanently preserve the achieved results.
The project Building capacities for management of patrols is part of the program activities of international development cooperation, financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia and implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior and the Police of the Republic of Slovenia.
