An increase in criminal gang violence and killings has done little to delay Croatia's accession to the European Union, raising fears that another Eastern European country will be admitted before it brings organised crime under control.
The country was told yesterday that it was still on track for membership and was given a timetable to complete the entry process by the end of next year, with another year for ratification by the 27 EU states. The news came despite an annual review into EU hopefuls stating that corruption and organised crime were still widespread in Croatia.
The rush to embrace Croatia is causing alarm that the EU will repeat the mistakes it made over Bulgaria and Romania, both of which were allowed in last year despite the continued influence of organised crime that is now holding up millions of euros in development aid.
It is even possible that key parts of the Lisbon Treaty could be woven into the country's accession agreement if the Irish people again vote “no” to the document in a referendum next year.
Olli Rehn, the Enlargement Commissioner, denied that the EU was offering Croatia a “blank cheque”. “The ball is in Croatia's court,” he said. “The conditional road map for Croatia should be seen as an encouragement for the country to press on with reforms. Success depends on Croatia's ability to meet the conditions for EU accession.”
The section of the report on Croatia's anti-corruption policy, however, made grim reading. “Corruption still remains widespread. The administrative capacity of state bodies for fighting corruption continues to be insufficient,” it said.
“The police need to become more effective in the fight against corruption and organised crime. Implementation of anti-corruption efforts has continued to lack co-ordination and monitoring. While the total number of corruption cases investigated so far has increased, the actual number of prosecutions remains low.”
In general the review was positive towards the Balkan countries; for the first time it suggested that Serbia could open its formal application process next year after the arrest of Radovan Karadzic. It was critical of Turkey, another country with ambitions of joining the EU, and urged it to get back on the road to reform.
Turkey started EU entry talks in 2005 — as did Croatia — but they have stalled over its refusal to normalise relations with Cyprus and the internal turmoil that led to the ruling party being taken to court for alleged unconstitutional behaviour.
Mr Rehn said: “Turkey has faced an annual political or constitutional crisis [over the last few years] which has consumed a lot of energy and caused stagnation in the essential reforms that are needed to make progress in the EU accession negotiation. The road to EU membership goes not through excuses but concrete steps.”
Ali Babacan, Turkey's Foreign Minister, said he thought that some of the EU criticisms were unfair but would issue a detailed reaction next week.
The EU enlargement review said that the other candidates — Albania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Bosnia, Montenegro and Kosovo — were making limited progress on the reforms that they needed to make.
Source: TimesOnline
Showing posts with label Kosovo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kosovo. Show all posts
on Sunday, May 6, 2012
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on Sunday, February 26, 2012
The traffic of heroin is the main criminal activity in the so-called South East criminal hub in Europe, according to the Europol Report.
Europol, or the European Police Office, released their Europol Organized Crime Threat Assessment (OCTA) in which the criminal activities on the old continent are divided in five hubs where the hub is a conceptual entity that is generated by a combination of factors such as proximity to major destination markets, geographic location, infrastructure, types of organized crime groups and migration processes concerning key criminals or organized crime groups in general.
The OCTA is an assessment of current and expected trends in organized crime affecting the EU and its citizens. Based on analysis Europol assess that the most significant criminal sectors now are drug trafficking, human trafficking, illegal immigration, fraud, counterfeiting and money laundering.
Bulgaria falls within the South East hub where the “Balkan route” from Turkey to the EU is used for heroin traffic by Turkish criminals, often in cooperation with Bulgarian crime groups.
“The South East criminal hub is based upon its geographical location between Asia and Europe. Logistically, the importance of the Black Sea and related waterways define the hub and will create opportunities for both legal trade and organized crime. Opiates reach Europe through the Balkan routes and the Northern Black Sea route across Central Asia and Russia. The significance of the port of Constanta in cocaine traffic is growing, and cocaine seems to be increasingly arriving into the EU via Turkey and/or the Balkans. This may also be the effect of the already well-established role of West Africa as a transit zone,” the report reads.
Bulgarians and Serbians also play key role in the traffic of synthetic drugs to the Middle East. Nigerian criminal groups, residing in Bulgaria, are in constant touch with such Nigerian groups in Italy providing cocaine for the Italian market, Europol notes.
In addition to synthetic drugs Bulgaria plays a key role in the distribution of counterfeit EUR bills and fake bank debit and credit cards.
The Southeastern hub is also very active in cigarettes contraband from the Ukraine and Moldova to the EU. In addition, the Ukraine is a transit center for cocaine, human trafficking and illegal immigrants through Albania, Serbia, Kosovo, Monte Negro and Macedonia to the EU.
The other hubs are:
1) The North West criminal hub. It is a distribution centre for heroin, cocaine, synthetic drugs and cannabis products. Its influence extends to the UK, Ireland, France, Spain, Germany and the Baltic and Scandinavian countries.
2) The South West criminal hub. The impact of this market is felt especially in the criminal markets of cocaine, cannabis, trafficking in human beings and illegal immigration. West and North West Africa as well as other parts of this continent have emerged as significant feeders for either the South West criminal hub or, increasingly, directly to important markets and distribution centers in the EU.
3) The North East criminal hub. This area is and will continue to be strongly influenced by feeders and transit zones located just outside the eastern EU borders (the Russian Federation/Kaliningrad, the Ukraine and Belarus). Illicit flows may be traced from the East towards the West (women for sexual exploitation, illegal immigrants, cigarettes, counterfeit goods, synthetic drugs precursors and heroin) but also vice versa (cocaine and cannabis products).
4) The Southern criminal hub. The role of this hub is central in relation to cigarette smuggling, the smuggling and distribution of counterfeit products and the production of counterfeit EUR bills.
Source: Novinite
Europol, or the European Police Office, released their Europol Organized Crime Threat Assessment (OCTA) in which the criminal activities on the old continent are divided in five hubs where the hub is a conceptual entity that is generated by a combination of factors such as proximity to major destination markets, geographic location, infrastructure, types of organized crime groups and migration processes concerning key criminals or organized crime groups in general.
The OCTA is an assessment of current and expected trends in organized crime affecting the EU and its citizens. Based on analysis Europol assess that the most significant criminal sectors now are drug trafficking, human trafficking, illegal immigration, fraud, counterfeiting and money laundering.
Bulgaria falls within the South East hub where the “Balkan route” from Turkey to the EU is used for heroin traffic by Turkish criminals, often in cooperation with Bulgarian crime groups.
“The South East criminal hub is based upon its geographical location between Asia and Europe. Logistically, the importance of the Black Sea and related waterways define the hub and will create opportunities for both legal trade and organized crime. Opiates reach Europe through the Balkan routes and the Northern Black Sea route across Central Asia and Russia. The significance of the port of Constanta in cocaine traffic is growing, and cocaine seems to be increasingly arriving into the EU via Turkey and/or the Balkans. This may also be the effect of the already well-established role of West Africa as a transit zone,” the report reads.
Bulgarians and Serbians also play key role in the traffic of synthetic drugs to the Middle East. Nigerian criminal groups, residing in Bulgaria, are in constant touch with such Nigerian groups in Italy providing cocaine for the Italian market, Europol notes.
In addition to synthetic drugs Bulgaria plays a key role in the distribution of counterfeit EUR bills and fake bank debit and credit cards.
The Southeastern hub is also very active in cigarettes contraband from the Ukraine and Moldova to the EU. In addition, the Ukraine is a transit center for cocaine, human trafficking and illegal immigrants through Albania, Serbia, Kosovo, Monte Negro and Macedonia to the EU.
The other hubs are:
1) The North West criminal hub. It is a distribution centre for heroin, cocaine, synthetic drugs and cannabis products. Its influence extends to the UK, Ireland, France, Spain, Germany and the Baltic and Scandinavian countries.
2) The South West criminal hub. The impact of this market is felt especially in the criminal markets of cocaine, cannabis, trafficking in human beings and illegal immigration. West and North West Africa as well as other parts of this continent have emerged as significant feeders for either the South West criminal hub or, increasingly, directly to important markets and distribution centers in the EU.
3) The North East criminal hub. This area is and will continue to be strongly influenced by feeders and transit zones located just outside the eastern EU borders (the Russian Federation/Kaliningrad, the Ukraine and Belarus). Illicit flows may be traced from the East towards the West (women for sexual exploitation, illegal immigrants, cigarettes, counterfeit goods, synthetic drugs precursors and heroin) but also vice versa (cocaine and cannabis products).
4) The Southern criminal hub. The role of this hub is central in relation to cigarette smuggling, the smuggling and distribution of counterfeit products and the production of counterfeit EUR bills.
Source: Novinite
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