Dolovac at Eurojust: Serbia Returns Liaison Prosecutor
Chief Public Prosecutor Zagorka Dolovac led a delegation of Serbia's Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office to Eurojust from September 8 to 10, where the return of a liaison prosecutor was confirmed.
A delegation from Serbia’s Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office, led by Chief Public Prosecutor Zagorka Dolovac, paid a working visit to Eurojust, the European Union agency for judicial cooperation between prosecutors and other state authorities in international criminal proceedings, from September 8 to 10.
Dolovac met with Eurojust’s President, prosecutor Michael Schmidt. During the visit, the delegation also toured the renewed permanent representation of Serbia and its Public Prosecutor’s Office at the agency, according to a statement from the Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The central point of the visit was the decision by the High Prosecutorial Council to once again post a liaison prosecutor to Eurojust, a position that had previously stood vacant. Schmidt explicitly praised that decision.
“The Eurojust President praised the fact that the High Prosecutorial Council had made the decision to post a liaison prosecutor to the agency, following a break that caused considerable concern and disappointment over the lack of opportunity for direct cooperation,” the statement said.
As the statement adds, the problem was resolved by renewing Serbia’s permanent representation and by the presence of the country’s highest ranking public prosecutor at the agency’s headquarters.
According to the statement, Eurojust’s side assessed that cooperation with Serbia is working extremely successfully, a result of the long standing relations the Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office and its permanent representation have built with the national representations of member states.
Dolovac announced that additional attention should in the future be directed toward crimes of shared interest to both sides, which, she said, have recently been showing signs of increase. These include:
- international illegal trafficking and trade in drugs, organized by criminal groups
- complex financial fraud carried out through computer networks
- human and weapons smuggling
According to the prosecution’s statement, the meeting concluded with a joint assessment of the direction for further development of cooperation.
“It was jointly noted that the rule of law and the work of the public prosecution should be preserved and improved in line with the European and international standards adopted in Serbia and in the Eurojust member states,” the statement said.
Srpske vesti had not previously reported on this visit, nor on the interruption in cooperation that preceded it.
