Crushing organised crime

European Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström said that political will is necessary for fighting organised crime and corruption.

At a regional conference on cooperation in the fight against organised crime, Malmstrom highlighted that the EU Member States also face many problems with organised crime and corruption.

This is why she has launched a proposal on improved confiscation and freezing of assets for criminal gangs.

According to Malmström, a common challenge for the region is the fight against human trafficking and drugs trafficking.

Malmström said that Serbia was a transit country, but also a country of origin for the migrants arriving to the EU. She added that she was encouraged by the statement of Serbian Minister of the the Interior Ivica Dačić that Serbia has prevented a departure of migrants to the EU in coordination with Hungarian and Austrian police forces.

In her words, there is a problem of abuse of visa-free regime, and all asylum applications from those coming from Serbia into the EU are ungrounded.

This tendency has diminished during the year, but we should all make sure that the regime is respected in all countries, Malmström said.

She reminded that in ten days’ time Croatia will sign the Treaty of Accession to the EU, which will be an important milestone for the Balkans on the path to European integration. For all the countries seeking to join the EU, strengthening the rule of law is the biggest challenge and this is normal, Malmström pointed out.