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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Serbian, Croatian police to intensify cooperation

Belgrade/Zagreb, 6 November 2008

First Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Ivica Dacic said today following a meeting with Croatia’s Interior Minister Tomislav Karamarko that the police of the two countries had cooperated in shedding light on recent crimes in Croatia.

In a statement made to the news agency Tanjug from Zagreb, where he is participating in a an EU ministerial forum titled “Judiciary and Interior Affairs – EU and the Western Balkans” Dacic said that the Serbian police shared information with the Croatian police that proved to be invaluable in the investigation into the murder of the editor of Zagreb news magazine Nacional, Ivo Pukanic.

He stressed that he reached agreement with Karamarko about holding a bilateral meeting in Croatia as soon as possible, in order to step up cooperation between the police and interior ministries of the two countries, because cooperation is necessary for fighting crime in the Balkans.

It was decided that an agreement on a liaison officers scheme for quicker exchanges of information will be signed soon, and is absolutely necessary for a successful fight against crime, said Dacic.

He said that crimes such as the murder of Pukanic are perpetrated by criminals who do not recognise borders, thus making cross-border police cooperation necessary.

Dacic said that regional cooperation is developing within the framework of the Police Cooperation Convention for South East Europe, which means it must be improved and made more operational, and liaison officers are required for this purpose.

The Serbian police force provided information to Croatian police, even though there was no prior agreement, and helped in the arrest of suspects inside Croatia, said the Interior Minister.

Dacic will hold several meetings with EU functionaries, French Immigration Minister Brice Hortefeux and EU Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security Jacques Barrot during the ministerial meeting.