With the aim of promoting regional prosecutorial co-operation and information sharing to tackle organised crime and terrorism in south-east Europe, the Mission, in co-operation with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, organised the Third Meeting of the Permanent Conference of Organised Crime Prosecutors. The two-day Conference brought together high-level prosecutors from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia to discuss pressing issues of co-operation and information sharing in the area of serious transnational crime and terrorism. The event was opened by the Head of Mission, alongside Italian Chief Prosecutor for Organized Crime and Terrorism Franco Roberti, Serbian Organized Crime Prosecutor Mladen Nenadić, and Italian Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Benedetto Della Vedova, and was closed by Italian Minister of Justice Andrea Orlando.
The initiative dates back to May 2016 when the Mission brought together 140 prosecutors and law enforcement officers in an international conference held in Belgrade. On that occasion, the Mission encouraged ten prosecution offices to sign a declaration of intent on regional co-operation in curbing transnational serious and organized crime. This landmark event was followed by a second meeting in November 2016. Thanks to the Mission’s continued efforts, the initiative transformed into the Permanent Conference of Prosecutors against Organised Crime.