A meeting between the Chief Prosecutor Goran Salihović and IPA Project officials and diplomatic core representatives has been held in the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where strengthening of cooperation and getting the prosecutorial structures of Bosnia and Herzegovina closer to the European integrations has been discussed, in the light of a more efficient combatting organized crime and corruption.

One of the topics of this meeting pertained to the upcoming process of appointing a Liaison Officer, namely a Prosecutor from Bosnia and Herzegovina, who will be seated in the European Association of Prosecutors- EUROJUST, in order to improve cooperation in combatting cross-border organized crime and corruption.

The Chief Prosecutor Salihović has stressed the need to maximally expedite Bosnia and Herzegovina’s connection with the structures of EUROJUST and EUROPOL, because the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina is already working on a larger number of investigations and prosecutions of criminal offenses in cases where crimes also extend to the territories of EU countries, particularly Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, as well as other countries, all of which proves such cooperation to be necessary.

The Chief Prosecutor has informed the IPA representatives and the diplomatic representatives about the activities aimed at strengthening the capacities of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina with respect to its staff, as well as in its technical segment. 

Moreover, the upcoming process of assigning a Prosecutor from an EU country to the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina to support its work and strengthen the cooperation of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the countries of European Union in fighting organized crime was discussed together with other modalities of strengthening of the cooperation between the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina and prosecutorial structures in the EU countries.

The Chief Prosecutor has informed the officials about the results of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina achieved in 2014, when prosecution of several complex cases falling within the domains of fight against terrorism, corruption, organized crime and financial crime was intensified.

Good cooperation of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the case of combatting terrorism and sanctioning the departures of BiH citizens to foreign battlefields in Syria and Iraq has also been noted, and in this particular case, significant cooperation with prosecutorial and police structures in Austria and Germany was realized.  

At this meeting, a joint conclusion has been reached that intensive activities will start early next year, aimed at linking and cooperation of prosecutorial structures in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the European Union, as that will significantly assist the process of establishment of the rule of law and creation of a safer environment for all the citizens in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as in the region and in the European Union.