The main partner to USKOK and the Chief State Prosecutor's Office in this project is the Spanish State Prosecutor's Anti-Corruption Office, it was said at the presentation of the project in Zagreb on Monday. The project is aimed at improving USKOK's potential and helping Croatian institutions adjust to EU structures.
Chief State Prosecutor Mladen Bajic said the project would enable USKOK to start functioning the way it was expected because USKOK had still not achieved its main task.
"USKOK is not expected only to prosecute crime and corruption, it is expected to monitor the movements of organised crime," Bajic said.
Justice Minister Vesna Skare Ozbolt, who attended the presentation, said the Croatian justice system had been cooperating with the EU on two projects and that new projects aimed at modernising the justice system were being prepared.
She said that corruption and organised crime had taken deep roots in society, which was proved by public opinion polls and frequent clashes between criminal groups.
USKOK director Zeljko Zganjer said that the fight against corruption and organised crime required more competent staff and its permanent education, as well as a faster flow of information.
Guests from the Spanish State Prosecutor's Anti-Corruption Office recalled that the fight against organised crime and corruption was very important also in terms of integration with the EU, which they said was stated in several pre-accession documents.