PROSECUTION OF WAR CRIMES AND JOINT ACTION AGAINST CROSS-BORDER AND ORGANIZED CRIME ARE PRIORITIES IN COOPERATION OF THE PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE OF BIH AND THE STATE ATTORNEY’S OFFICE OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA

Chief Prosecutor - Goran Salihović and State Attorney General - Dinko Cvitan pointed out that the fight against organized crime in the region and cooperation between the prosecutor’s offices is one of the priorities on the European path of Bosnia and Herzegovina in its aim to protect the borders of the European Union and create a safer environment in the region.

The Chief Prosecutor - Goran Salihović met with the high level delegation of the State Attorney’s Office of the Republic of Croatia, headed by the State Attorney General - Dinko Cvitan.

This is the first official visit of Mr. Cvitan to the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina following his appointment as Head of the State Attorney’s Office of the Republic of Croatia.

Previous cooperation between the two prosecutor’s offices was discussed at the meeting. The two prosecutor’s offices have been cooperating for more than a year pursuant to the Protocol on Cooperation in Prosecution of Perpetrators of War Crimes, Crimes against Humanity and Genocide, which was signed in Sarajevo in June last year with the support of the European Union structures in BiH.

In the previous period, the Prosecutor’s Offices of BiH and Croatia have participated in and coordinated several joint actions in the fight against organized crime in the region, which were related to cases of international drug smuggling, smuggling of illegal immigrants, counterfeiting of money and other forms of serious organized crime.

The cooperation of the two prosecutor’s offices is extremely important both on regional and international level for the fight against impunity for war crimes as well as for protection of borders and prevention of cross-border crime, because the Republic of Croatia is an EU member state as of last year and Bosnia and Herzegovina is in the process of European integration in which the establishment of the rule of law is one of the most important priorities for the accession process.

The Prosecutor’s Offices will continue to coordinate joint activities and operations against organized crime in the future involving a number of police agencies of both countries, because organized crime requires a determined and organized response of prosecutorial and police structures.

During the meeting, Mr. Salihović and Mr. Cvitan pointed out that the intense cooperation will continue in the coming months and that the public and the citizens will be able to see the results of this cooperation once the activities in specific cases are realized.