BUCHAREST, June 6th - The SECI Center is pleased to announce that today Montenegro became the 13th member state of the SECI Center. The integration within the organization was ratified by the Joint Cooperation Committee, the highest decision body of the SECI Center, at its 28th meeting, held between 5-6th of June at Bucharest.
"Montenegrin police, having in mind its commitment acknowledged in practice, enjoys the status of respected and responsible partner in the region, so in that sense you could count on its readiness in realizing SECI Center's goals. The forces of Montenegrin police organization are at your disposal in the fight against threats to the region", Veselin Veljović, Director of the Police Directorate of Montenegro stated.
Miodrag Radusinovic, the General Director of the Customs Administration supported the idea presented by his colleague " I express our readiness to go deeper and to be full member of this organization. On the top level of our principle in work is regional cooperation".
In the first day of the meeting, the JCC Chairman, Lt. General Dr. Janos Nagy, thanked, on behalf of the organization, one of the most important founding fathers.
"The SECI Center is a success story which I think is showing that the region is really mature to take the responsibility for itself and I was quite happy that I was able to contribute a little bit and I am pleased that the RCC is overtaking on behalf of the Stability Pact", Dr. Erhard Busek, Special Coordinator of SECI and the Stability Pact for SEE.
The SECI Center will have a close relationship with the Regional Cooperation Council, as stated by the Secretary General of the RCC, Hido Biscevic: "We need SECI and we will find the best way to affiliate SECI with the RCC, in our discussions with the European Commission and other institutions".
The Joint Cooperation Committee approved the 2007 Annual Report which describes the support givento the member states by the SECI Center, the coordination of joint investigations and regional operations, as well as the results of the task forces established at the Center.
2007 brought a 27 percent increase in information exchanges between the member countries police and customs authorities, as well as observer states. Last year, the SECI Center coordinated 23 joint investigations and 5 regional operations.
"In future, we aim to be at the forefront of promoting best practice and the dissemination of knowledge that can contribute to detect, prosecute and prevent crime. That is why we are reviewing past and existing experience as well as relevant legal framework. " Mitja Močnik, director of the SECI Center stated.
During the JCC meeting, the high ranking officials also re-elected the official nominee of the Republic of Turkey, Ibrahim Gül, as Head of Legal/Internal Department.
The SECI Regional Center for Combating Trans-border Crime, headquartered in Bucharest, Romania, was launched in 2000, and is a unique operational organization in which police and customs liaison officers from 12 member states (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey) work together in direct cooperation, coordinate joint investigations and facilitate information exchange.
Besides the member countries, there are 21 observers, countries and organizations: Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Canada, EUBAM, France, Georgia, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Slovakia, Ukraine, UNDP Romania, the United Kingdom, UNMIK, and the United States of America.
Italy and the United States maintain permanent representation at the SECI Center, and Interpol and the World Customs Organization are permanent (non-resident) advisors to the SECI Center.
