Communication and cooperation with OLAF is of great importance for the work on financial crime cases, as an important tool in the fight against money laundering, financial crime and corruption, especially in cases where money transfers with EU countries, countries of the Western Balkans region or other countries were recorded.

The participants were discussing good practices and methodology of notifying OLAF of allegations of fraud and irregularities impacting the EU’s financial interests. They were also emphasizing the importance of inter-institutional cooperation in financial crime cases, as well as the methodologically sound collection, analysis, and admissibility of evidence. Examples of OLAF cases from candidate countries were also presented, and ways in which OLAF and the BiH Prosecutor’s Office can best work together were discussed.

During the visit to Brussels, a video conference was organized with the participation of the Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, representative from SIPA, representatives of the Ministry of Finance of BiH, the Delegation of the European Union and several other important institutions in order to discuss the manner of establishing a liaison office between BiH and OLAF.

On this occasion, the EU accession criteria regarding the protection of the EU’s financial interests were presented, as well as an overview of OLAF’s work on fraud prevention and in the field of ​​customs.

The visit was organized within the EU4Justice Project, which is implemented through the financial support of the European Union with the aim of harmonizing the judicial system of BiH with European standards.