1. Fighting Organized Crime and Corruption

Responding to an appeal by the Special Coordinator, SEECP member states have started a campaign against organized crime and corruption in the region in order to boost the effectiveness of their actions at the national and the regional level. At their meeting in Bucharest on 18 May, the JHA Ministers called for measures to strengthen implementation and to prepare for enhanced cooperation with Eurojust and Europol amongst others. The Campaign aims also at boosting regional cooperation by making better use of existing regional fora, such as SPOC, SPAI, the Police Forum, the SECI Centre and others.

The Ministers decided to monitor progress under this campaign on an annual basis and to report such progress at the annual EU-Western Balkans Summit meetings. The Romanian CiO introduced proposals in this connection on the mechanism, the calendar, and concrete measures for implementation under the campaign for decision-taking later this month by SEECP governments.

The Chairman concluded that the Campaign was warmly welcomed as a proof of increasing regional ownership and that the JHA initiatives under Working Table III would be available as support mechanisms for the Campaign.

SPOC

SPOC serves as a platform for the international, European and regional legal and law enforcement communities for policy dialogue and project facilitation to fight organized crime in SEE. Such projects range from witness protection to pre-Schengen police cooperation models. In this respect, SPOC is also aiming at a South East European Police Convention as a tool to fight more effectively against organised crime and corruption. SPOC will also contribute to a regional CARDS project coordinated by the Council of Europe on policing and fighting organized crime in the Western Balkans. The SPOC Chairman suggested that SPOC should become a regional contact point for anti-organized crime projects.

SPOC will follow-up on the conclusions of the EU-Western Balkans JHA Thessaloniki Forum summit held in Brussels on 28 November 2003. SPOC will also encourage and monitor the implementation of the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Palermo TOC). SPOC research on the status of implementation shows progress, but parts of the TOC still await to be applied.

SPOC welcomes the decision by the European Commission to initiate an assessment by an independent team of experts led by Europol on future options for cooperation between European institutions and the Bucharest-based Regional Center for Combating Transborder Crime (SECI Center). Strengthening cooperation between the SECI Center and Europol will remain one of SPOC’s strategic objectives.

SPOC participates in the South East European Public Prosecutors Advisory Group (SEEPAG). This network of regional prosecutors is expected to contribute significantly to increase the rate of convictions concerning cross-border organized crime activities. SPOC is advocating that SEEPAG will develop in line with the prosecutors’ cooperation, an objective agreed to at the Thessaloniki Forum.

Cooperation between SPOC and the SP Police Forum will increase. The Organized Crime Training Network (OCTN) Secretariat is now co-located with the SPOC Chairman’s office in Vienna to ensure synergies between the PF and the SPOC initiatives. A set of first training projects is about to be launched in Romania.

Police Forum

The Police Forum Co-chair reported on the three projects the initiative is consisting of, at present: Regional Police Training modules for senior police officers, Organized Crime Training Network for operational managers (organized crime units) and the Stolen vehicles project.

The Police Forum encourages the streamlining of efforts with other regional initiatives, like SPOC, SEPCA and CEI. Also, cooperation with international and regional partners active in the area of police cooperation (INTERPOL, EUROPOL, SECI Centre) is increasing. The European Commission’s CARDS program on police training has been taken into consideration to avoid overlapping.

Within the Regional Police Training project, the Association of European Police Colleges has already implemented 12 of the 14 themes agreed in 2000. Recently, a specific module on stolen vehicles took place in Moldova, financed by Norway. The remaining two modules, “Forging Documents” and “Maintaining Public Order”, have been submitted to donors for consideration.

The OCTN project, launched last year, will become operational in September. Austria, Norway and Switzerland are providing considerable financial support. The donor group will remain open to other donors. A group of Local Contact Persons, appointed within each Organized Crime Unit from the SEE countries, will be trained on the details of the project late June or early July.

Within the stolen cars project, the SEE countries have drafted National Action Plans or are in the drafting process. The SEE countries are ready to increase their mutual cooperation in fighting the stolen vehicles phenomenon. The SECI Centre’s Task Force on stolen vehicles is an important regional operational tool. In the autumn of this year, a follow-up meeting will be convened to further strengthen national and regional strategies.

Another activity initiated in April this year under the auspices of the Police Forum has been the meeting of the SEE chiefs of Antidrug-units, organized together with the Association of SEE Chiefs of Police (SEPCA) in Racviac Center near Zagreb, Croatia.

The absence of Albania and Bulgaria in the Police Forum meetings regarding stolen cars and drugs, although there were financial possibilities to cover travel costs was noted. Both countries should be encouraged to play a more active role in Police cooperation at the regional level.

Further reforms and enhanced capacity building efforts are needed in police training and regional law enforcement cooperation. Progress can be expected only with a clear and firm political commitment from governments, which also is a condition for internationally – financed technical assistance programmes.

Trafficking in Human Beings

Participants warmly welcomed the appointment of Dr. Helga Konrad as the OSCE Special Representative for Human Trafficking and agreed that the Stability Pact should fully support her in her new role. The participants also welcomed the presentation of the SPTF chronicle of regional progress and accomplishments in anti-trafficking management from 2000 to 2004 in South-Eastern Europe.

After four years of intensive work, the Stability Pact Task Force on Trafficking in Human Beings (SPTF) will begin the process of turning over more responsibility and accountability for continued regional progress in anti-trafficking management to the governmental coordinators and the respective governments. The support for combating trafficking in human beings that is increasingly forthcoming from within the region itself will be complemented by assistance from the OSCE Special Representative on Trafficking in Human Beings, as part of the overall responsibility in working with all 55 OSCE participating States. The SP will continue to contribute to the fight against trafficking through the SPOC and Police Forum Initiatives, in support of the work of the governmental coordinators and in close cooperation with OSCE and the SECI Center.

During the upcoming months, the SPTF will take additional steps to strengthen the collaborative capacity of the governmental coordinators and the national structures on a regional basis and ensure the implementation of the SPTF’s Media Project.

The SPTF Secretariat in Vienna is expected to close its doors by the end of 2004. In the transition period until the end of the year, the modalities for continued Stability Pact support for national and regional efforts to combat trafficking will be defined.

SPAI

The Executive Secretary of the SPAI Regional Secretariat Liaison Office (RSLO) had submitted a progress report on the establishment of the Regional Office in Sarajevo, the 7th SPAI Steering Group Meeting in early May in Sveti Stefan and next steps in implementing the SPAI Strategy and SPAI RSLO Work Plan for 2004 and 2005.

The RSLO’s representative underlined the RSLO’s availability and readiness to contribute to the effective implementation of the Joint Statement of the SEECP Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs on a Joint Campaign to Fight Organized Crime and Corruption in South Eastern Europe.

The RSLO will concentrate on networking in the region, evaluating the actual status of Anticorruption National Strategies and preparing the agreed activities of the workplan.

The SPAI Chairman welcomed the efforts made by all SPAI partners to achieve results and congratulated the Regional Partners for their progress in adopting and implementing National Strategies on Fighting Corruption. The Chairman, supported by the WTIII Secretariat in Brussels, will seek further support from international partners (countries and organizations, including the most important NGOs active in the field) in order to provide the Regional Office with a sustainable partnership for the future. For the SPAI Chair, the implementation of the “regional ownership” objective is the cornerstone of SPAI’s strategy. He called upon the international partners to profit from the presence of the office in Sarajevo that should become a “Centre of Excellence” on anticorruption, where experts from the region could be trained and learn from regional and international experience in fighting corruption. The RSLO in Sarajevo should then be utilised by the other international organizations active in fighting corruption for supporting the implementation of their activities in the region.

2. Managing Population Movement and Refugee Return

MARRI

The Chair congratulated the MARRI Chairman for his appointment as the EU Special Representative to Skopje and commended Mr. Jessen-Petersen for his continued strong engagement and success in the MARRI initiative.

The MARRI Regional Forum convened by the SEECP in Herceg Novi, Montenegro, 5 - 6 April 2004, has been a decisive step towards regional ownership for managing and stabilising population movements and finding sustainable solutions for the remaining displaced populations. This ministerial SEECP meeting decided to establish a political and professional Regional Forum for the five SAp countries to be composed of Ministers and Senior Officials responsible for migration, asylum, border management, visa and sustainable solutions for displacement. It aims at exchanging information, experiences, lessons learned, best practices as well as to discuss and resolve issues of common interest and concern and develop a common vision for the region.

The Regional Forum has been established within the framework of SEECP, but with separate meetings (Regional Forum) for the five SAp countries and with its own presidency based upon rotation among the five SAp countries. Albania is holding the Presidency of the Regional Forum in the period from 1 April 2004 - 31 March 2005.

The Forum and the associated Regional Center will have a special link to the Stability Pact as “associated initiative to the Stability Pact”.

The Regional Forum will seek support and advice of the International Community through the “Friends of the Regional Forum” which should be convened by the Presidency of the Regional Forum twice per year. The “Friends of the Regional Forum” will supersede the previous MARRI steering committee and has met for the first time on 27 May in Vienna.

Participants commended MARRI for the progress made as regards the finalization of the National Action Plans (NAP), on the progress on preparing for the workshops on illegal migration and on the ongoing work of the Regional Information Exchange (RIE) initiative. The Access to Rights (ATR) initiative had received initial funding, making it possible for governments and civil society to constructively cooperate in its implementation soon to start.

Finally the chair noted that MARRI had also achieved considerable progress in the context of housing being one of the key factors in the stabilization, settlement and return of populations. The work on the issue of illegal settlements and housing finance had paved the way for two major activities on the issue now under final preparation.

At a cross-working table panel the multi-dimensional nature of migration from and within the SEE region was discussed. Participants addressed sensitive questions like the relation between progress on JHA issues and visa issues, the importance of introducing a gender approach in migration policies, and the necessity of creating social-economic conditions which would reduce migration or which would make the position of migrants more sustainable.

3. Ohrid Border Security and Management Process

Ohrid Border Process

Participants took note of the report presented by Ambassador Janez Premoze on progress within the Ohrid Process for Border Management and Security since the last WT III meeting in Tirana. At a meeting of the Heads of Border Guards/Services and the National Contact Points for the Ohrid Border Process on 2 June in Zagreb, a semi-annual review of the commitments of the five countries of the Western Balkans region took place. According to the intermediate reports on the implementation of the Way Forward Document, which were sent to the Stability Pact, some of them beyond the agreed deadline, the five countries reported on 6 action-oriented measures which are already being implemented, or about to be in the nearest future. Progress has been assessed but continuous efforts are still needed especially as regards to concrete implementation. The Second Review Meeting of the Ohrid Border process will take place in Tirana in mid-October 2004.

4. Defence and Security Issues

Participants agreed that the recent enlargement of NATO and of the EU sets a very positive example, especially to the countries of the Western Balkans region, as it has shown that thorough reforms of the political, economic and security sector do pay off. NATO and EU enlargement also have substantially improved the security environment in which the Stability Pact operates. The NATO Summit in Istanbul on 28 - 29 June will be another landmark in the changing security architecture of SEE.

The importance of military cooperation in the region was emphasised as well. A list with specific ideas for increased defence cooperation within the SEE region was introduced.

The SEECP Ministers of Defence meeting held in Sarajevo in mid-April 2004, initiated in this respect a new era in the relations among SEE countries and their respective defence structures. The Stability Pact has recently started a dialogue with the South Eastern Europe Defence Ministerial (SEDM) process about seeking synergy between SP WT III and SEDM including possible cooperation/actions on mutually agreed topics.

Participants took note of progress on a project to develop a database on security sector reform initiatives in the SEE region. The Centre for International and Security Studies at York University (Canada) is implementing this project in cooperation with Norway and Working Table III.

The countries of the region have been invited to co-operate in updating the database (the database is at: http://ssr.yciss.yorku.ca as well as on the SP website).

RACVIAC

The successful training of personnel in all aspects of implementation of Arms Control matters, over the first three years, has created the opportunity for a refocusing of RACVIAC's activities. RACVIAC has moved on to concentrate on politico-military issues to facilitate and stimulate regional co-operation. RACVIAC also continues to provide Arms Control training, facilitating and assisting the countries in the region to fulfil their Arms Control implementation commitments, and supports and prepares them for accession to other Arms Control agreements.

The Director of RACVIAC reported on RACVIAC’s activities since the last Working Table III meeting, highlighting the results of the 9th Multinational Advisory Group of RACVIAC meeting in Ankara (19 – 22 April, 2004) and a seminar on Military-Political Security Issues and the Possibilities for Regional Co-operation in SEE, which took place on 24-27 May 2004, and which was attended by the Defence Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia and Montenegro.

RACVIAC also contributed to other security and confidence-building related areas, such as the Ohrid Border Process on Integrated Border Management and Security and Defence Conversion issues. Following on from the Ministers' visit to RACVIAC and their statements that one of the biggest challenges facing them was the lack of knowledge of people at all levels, the Director emphasized the need to develop expertise at the Parliamentary level, better education of staff and a change of mind-set by all.

The Director reported that contacts with SEDM, OPCW and SIPRI will lead to concrete joint activities in various fields.

Other areas on RACVIAC’s agenda are civil-military relations, democratic control of armed forces and disaster management.

The improvement of the political and security situation in the SEE region justifies the gradual shift in RACVIAC’s activities towards a Center for Regional Cooperation on a wider range of arms control and security sector reform issues.
With the political and security situation in the SEE region having significantly changed over the last couple of years all the described areas would constitute a basis for a future role of RACVIAC.

Defence Conversion

The importance of Defence Conversion is illustrated by the fact that over the course of little more than five years in South Eastern Europe around 1.500 military sites will be closed and around 200.000 military personnel will loose their jobs.

The Representative of NATO Defence and Security Economic Directorate, the Stability Pact Task Force leader for Defence Conversion, reviewed progress, which has been achieved under the retraining and resettlement programmes in Bulgaria and Romania. These programmes are well underway involving around 40.000 officers for both Bulgaria and Romania. A NATO Expert Team has also worked with Croatia on a programme to downsize by roughly 12.000 personnel during the period between 2002 and 2006. Discussions have started with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to resolve a surplus of officers and civilian employees of the armed forces (around 2.000). 8.000 Officers could be involved in Albania. Serbia and Montenegro have indicated that up to 25.000 people (both military personnel and civilian employees) would be released from the service till 2010. Four Regional Resettlement Centres have been established. The UK and The Netherlands were mentioned as the main international supporters as well as NATO and the Stability Pact. Co-operation in the field of Demobilisation and Retraining has also been established with some neighbouring countries. In addition, UNDP with the support of the Government of Norway, is assisting in capacity building for reform in the Ministry of Defence through the joint MoDCOR project (Ministry of Defence Civilian Oversight and Reform). This project supports the Ministry’s effort to enhance international cooperation and to facilitate the coherence of different offers of assistance from multilateral and bilateral donor partners.

A second major field of defence conversion concerns military sites. Bulgaria and Romania have advanced base conversion processes. Up to 850 bases are to close in the short to medium term in Bulgaria. Romania aims to close around 170 bases over the next six years. In Skopje, a NATO Expert Team has made first comments on a draft programme related to disposal of non-essential functions and conversion of MOD properties.

Participants were also briefed about a project related to decontamination of pesticides and chemical products stocked on military sites in Moldova. Preliminary contact has been developed with the EU regarding financial support. A feasibility study has already been prepared and financed by NAMSA and NATO regarding destruction of approx. 1.700 ton of obsolete pesticides/chemicals stored at 358 separate military locations

NATO reiterated its support for the establishment of a South Eastern European Centre for Military Conversion as well as for active involvement of partners from the private sector and international financial institutions in Defence Conversion.
Participants took note of a meeting of Regional SP National Coordinators Meeting with the Demobilisation & Retraining Working Group lead by DCAF on 12 March, 2004 in Ljubljana. Since the exchange of existing regional experience in the area of demobilisation and retraining is now becoming very important, Albania proposed to organize a workshop in Tirana to discuss these issues.

Briefings were provided to participants on progress regarding the Bulgarian Military Budget Transparency Initiative, a Bulgarian NGO project concerning military base conversion, and a project to prepare TV programmes for SEE media concerning aspects of Security Sector Reforms.

Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW)

The Belgrade-based South Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SEESAC), a joint disarmament and SALW control initiative of the Stability Pact and UNDP, is providing strategic and technical advice and assisting in coordination of SALW control in the SEE region.

A joint UNDP/Stability Pact/Donor assessment of the SEESAC project to date was conducted in February 2004. At the last meeting of the Regional Steering Group for the Control of SALW in SEE held in Belgrade in mid-May this assessment was discussed as well as a project proposal for a second two-year phase of SEESAC (starting in January 2005) to be adopted by the end of June. Clearly expressed political commitment from the side of the SEE countries to actively participate in the whole process of implementation of the Stability Pact Regional Implementation Plan on SALW, including SEESAC Phase 2, would be necessary to secure donor funding.

The 2nd SEESAC Regional Arms Laws roundtable, co-sponsored by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), took place in Belgrade on 25-26 May 2004 and contributed to reinforcing the momentum in the region for development of effective export and domestic arms control measures.

The Reay Group on Mine Action

The principal objective of the Reay Group has already been achieved, since all the countries from South Eastern Europe have become parties to the Ottawa Convention.

5. DPPI

The Chair noted the progress and concrete results made within the Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Initiative (DPPI), initiated and sponsored by the Stability Pact. DPPI deserves to be highlighted as a good example of growing regional cooperation. DPPI supports regional cooperation to strengthen the safety for citizens and the environment and stimulates cooperation across borders, in an inclusive manner at various levels - national, sub-national, and municipal with strong support from the international community.

The South Eastern European region has organised a number of training events in the field of crises and disaster management, with participation of DPPI member countries and international organisations. The use of best practices and lessons learnt and bridging gaps between academics, researchers and practitioners provide added value.

The Joint Fire-fighting Unit from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Montenegro is a good example of the possibilities and advantages of cooperation and co-ordination across borders in the field of DPPI. Project implementation also reconfirmed the existence of certain problems such as lengthy border crossing procedures, which should be shortened in case of disaster/humanitarian assistance and the importance of concluding bi/multilateral agreements in this area.