Fighting against illegal migrations and cyber crime essential on Serbia’s EU path

Suppression and fighting against illegal migrations and cyber crime in Serbia are important not only to the EU, but are key among Serbia’s efforts to join the EU, benefiting Serbian citizens in the long term, said Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Michael Davenport at the closing ceremony of Twinning project on establishing an efficient system of illegal migration fighting and suppression, financed by the EU with EUR1 million.

Davenport said that the challenges imposed by that type of criminal activities cannot be dealt by the Ministry of Interior alone. Organised criminal groups are part of international networks, operating in many countries and using informational technologies so as to enhance the level of their criminal activities.

He stressed that the past few years, individual countries as well as the EU as a whole had put a much stronger focus on the issues of illegal migrations and cyber crime.

By investing EUR1 million in this project, the EU wanted to help Serbia in establishing an efficient system of fighting against illegal migrations and cyber crime in Serbia, Davenport said.

According to him, preventing and fighting these types of criminal activities will benefit citizens of Serbia in the long term, whereas an efficient suppression system will help increase public’s trust on this matter through visible and improved results in the area of fighting crime and public safety promotion.

Serbian Minister of Interior Nebojsa Stefanovic assessed that the project had significantly contributed to fighting against illegal migrations and cyber crime, which is particularly important given Serbia’s geographic location that makes it one the most significant routes of illegal migrations.

UK Ambassador in Belgrade Denis Keefe said that fighting against illegal migrations and cyber crime required clear and well-organised tactic, thus making the cooperation with international partners even more important. Improvements brought by this project are in the best interest of all Serbian citizens, but the EU’s as well, Keefe concluded.