Study visit to Slovenia for the fight against organized crime

During the month of December 2016, within the project “Fight against organized crime – (Human trafficking, Drugs trafficking, Illicit arms trafficking, Financial investigation)” of the European Union to Serbia in 2013, a study visit to Slovenia was organized, with our representative present as well.

The project itself has two main goals - to strengthen the capacities of law enforcement institutions, which particularly applies to Criminal Police Directorate and the Prosecutor's Office, as well as to investigation and prosecution in organized crime. Within the second goal, it was necessary to build capacities of investigation techniques in solving the cases of criminal activities, as well as to improve working efficiency of physical-chemical and toxicological laboratories of the Ministry of Interior in accordance with the EU standards and to begin their accreditation process. Ten representatives of Criminal Police Directorate and Service for Combating Organized Crime, NGO Atina’s representative, and Deputy Public Prosecutor of the Republic of Serbia had an opportunity to participate in the exchange of experiences with Slovenian representatives in the field of human trafficking, drugs trafficking, illicit arms trafficking, and financial investigations.

During the study visit, representatives of the Serbian delegation were introduced with the organizational structure and methods of operation of police services in Slovenia - police departments, criminal and border police, Special Prosecutor's Office, and nongovernmental organizations that provide direct support to victims of human trafficking.
During the visit, representatives of Serbia had the opportunity to participate in a meeting of the National Team for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings of the Republic of Slovenia.
Exchange of experiences and strengthening of cross-border and international cooperation strengthened the existing cooperation between Slovenia and Serbia in the field of fight against organized crime.

Implementation of the project will be continued during the following year, and will include about 80 different activities - workshops, seminars, training sessions, training of trainers, exchange of experiences, study visits, and similar activities.