The Regional Workshop “Integrity and Control Measures in Defence and Law Enforcement Institutions”, jointly organized by RACVIAC – Centre for Security Cooperation, Regional Anti-corruption Initiative (RAI) and the Ministry of Defence of Montenegro, took place on May 8 and 9 in Podgorica, Montenegro.

Being aware of the fact that integrity and fight against corruption in the defence and security areas presents one of the common challenges in the region, and considering that this specific topic needs to be treated multi-disciplinary, this Workshop is a continuation of the series of activities organized previously by RAI and is intended as a capacity building endeavour for a new generation of experts involved in the subject of building integrity and fighting corruption.

The objective of the 2018 Workshop was to increase the capacity of ministries of defence and ministries of internal affairs, particularly border police, in the field of integrity and corruption prevention.

The Workshop aimed at increasing awareness about innovative anti-corruption mechanisms and tools, but also the needed legal solutions and regulatory measures. It is anticipated that the participants will gain a better understanding of the specific elements related to institutional integrity measures, prevention and resolution of conflict of interest, declaration of assets, income, liabilities and interests, and identification and mitigation of corruption risks related to protection of classified data.

Greeting the participants on behalf of the RACVIAC Director, Ambassador Haydar Berk, Ms. Ana Ezhova Krzhaloska, Programme Manager for International and Regional Cooperation with focus on Euro Atlantic Integration Pillar, said that “due to their specificities the fields of defence and internal affairs have been identified as areas with high risks for misconducts and corruption. Public procurement, conflict of interest, financial control and data protection have been acknowledged as particularly vulnerable processes. In this respect, further actions and support to the respective authorities in South East Europe in strengthening their institutional integrity and resilience are needed”. She continued by saying that “the close regional and wider cooperation among the SEE countries through dialogue and various forms of coordination is a strong response to todays’ challenges to defence policy, leading to building of confidence and security among the countries and development of synergy.”

In his Opening remarks the Head of the International Cooperation Section in the Ministry of Defence of Montenegro, Mr. Andrej Lakić, said that the topic of Building Integrity and Fighting Corruption requires the attention of all of us who are focused on developing the global partnership and active exchange of information with the aim to properly implement integrity and control measures in defence and law enforcement institutions.

Speaking on behalf of the Regional Anticorruption Initiative, Mr. Davor Dubravica, Acting Chairperson of RAI greeted the participants and expressed gratitude to RACVIAC and the Ministry of Defence of Montenegro for a great collaboration in organizing the event. This event is continuation of a joint successful cooperation between RAI and RACVIAC, and follow up to the activities organized in past years. Mr. Dubravica emphasized importance of the topic of conflict of interest and asset declaration, especially in law enforcement institutions and ministries of defence. He stressed that preventing corruption and promoting integrity in law enforcement agencies is one of the themes covered by the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) in fifth Evaluation Round, launched in 2017.

He expressed commitment of RAI in supporting national institutions in the SEE Region, both by strengthening their capacities but also enhancing regional cooperation in the field of conflict of interest and asset declaration. In this respect, the draft International Treaty on Data Exchange for the Verification of Asset Declaration was represented during the Workshop by Mr. Vladan Joksimović, Head of RAI Secretariat.

The Workshop gathered more than 30 participants, mid-level representatives of the ministries of interior and defence from the Republic of Albania, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Republic of Croatia, Montenegro, Moldova, Romania, Republic of Serbia, Republic of Turkey and Kosovo⃰.

For more details, please see List of Participants and event Agenda.

*This Designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.

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