ZAGREB, May 24, 2018 - U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday participated in a regional workshop on trans-national organised crime held at the Police Academy in Zagreb, after which he said at a joint press conference with Croatia's Interior Minister Davor Božinović that the US has the closest relations with Croatia and that it wishes to expand these achievements to other countries in the region.
State prosecutors from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia took part in the regional workshop.
These countries have partnerships with the US that have lasted for decades and can be upgraded in the fight against terrorism, drug and human trafficking, and corruption, Sessions said.
The US is investing in those partnerships with its expertise and has deployed several prosecutors and police consultants in its embassies in the countries in the region. That cooperation is already producing results in the fight against organised crime, Sessions said and added that in the past three years, 118 people had been arrested and drugs and weapons confiscated. In March alone, in cooperation with Croatian police and the DEA, for example, 100 kilos of cocaine was confiscated.
Minister Božinović said that this is once again confirmation that Croatia is a key ally to the US in this part of Europe and added that he and Sessions discussed deepening this strategic partnership.
Božinović added that since his visit to the US in January, when the foundations for stronger institutional cooperation were laid, significant progress and results are already visible. Operation Nana, carried out together with DEA, showed that Croatia was capable of coordinating the police from other countries, for example, Columbia, Panama, Germany and Italy. He recalled that Croatia and the US cooperated in the area of the rule of law bilaterally and through Interpol and Europol.
Sessions added that the PNR (Passenger Name Record) Directive would soon enter into force in Croatia regarding information exchange on suspicious persons in international air transport. Information exchange is an important area of police work and an important element when it comes to America's visa waiver program, considering the fact that Croatia is one of five EU member states that is still waiting to enter that programme, Božinović said.
The two officials discussed migrations and in particular focused on the latest migrant route across Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Božinović added that he was glad that the US supports Croatia's efforts to enter the Schengen Area.
