• Wednesday, 26 June 2024

Grkovska – Rizzi: UNODC cooperation showing results, efficient anti-corruption policies a priority

Grkovska – Rizzi: UNODC cooperation showing results, efficient anti-corruption policies a priority
Skopje, 8 July 2022 (MIA) – Deputy PM for good governance policies Slavica Grkovska met Friday in Vienna with Danilo Rizzi, representative of the Regional Office for South Eastern Europe at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimge (UNODC), discussing current support within the UNODC Regional Programme for South Eastern Europe, with a special focus on the Regional Anti-corruption and Illicit Finance Roadmap, which the Western Balkan countries joined recently. Deputy PM Grkovska expressed her gratitude for the UNODC support, which is continually present in the aspect of strengthening the state capacities and emphasized that the Government of North Macedonia, in the past few years, has been actively working to adopt corruption and crime prevention measures and activities in all walks of life, her Office said in a press release. “The Government has great cooperation with UNODC, including the support for anti-corruption activities in the field of sports which we are implementing together, as well as in the field of implementing the Strategy for Strengthening of the Capacities for Financial Investigations and Confiscation of Assets,” said Grkovska. Rizzi, said that UNODC offers North Macedonia its full support and expressed his readiness for the continuation of cooperation in all priority fields. They both agreed on implementing joint activities in the field of regional cooperation with the Western Balkan countries, with the support of the UNODC, where the focus will be on the Regional Anti-corruption and Illicit Finance Roadmap. Deputy PM Grkovska is on a two-day working visit to Vienna, taking part in the Regional Meeting within the “From Illicit Financial Flows to Asset Recovery” project. The aim of the meeting is to discuss the strategic positions of all countries in the region regarding the confiscation of assets. The project aims to improve the capacity of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, as well as Kosovo in the context of the UN Security Council Resolution 1244, to recover the income and the tools of crime, and to strengthen the exchange of information or evidence leading to asset seizures and confiscations.