TRANSITION STATES SUCCESSFUL IN FIGHTING ORGANISED CRIME - MINISTER

ZAGREB, Nov 28 (Hina) - South-East European countries in transition, including Croatia, have made significant progress in the fight against organised crime and corruption, European Union justice and interior ministers attending a conference in Brussels agreed on Friday, Croatian Justice Minister Ingrid Anticevic Marinovic told Hina. #L# "Croatia has created good conditions for the solution of these problems in terms of legislation and relevant institutions," the Croatian minister said after the morning part of the conference, which focused on institutional cooperation among the countries, their legislative activities, and the development of institutions fighting organised crime. Speaking about organised crime, Anticevic Marinovic said that it tended to establish a parallel economic system in a country. "If it takes root, you end up having two almost parallel economic systems. Organised crime then affects political decisions, and in such a situation democratic possibilities vanish," she said, adding that "organised crime and corruption are strong to the extent the state is incapable of combating them". The Croatian delegation attending the conference called for a closer cooperation among countries in the region and that the EU adopt an individual approach in evaluating a country's progress in fighting organised crime. The Croatian minister said that the outgoing government had adopted a number of relevant laws, including a law on the prevention of corruption and organised crime, and expressed hope that the new government in Croatia would continue improving that system. The conference, which was chaired by the justice minister of Italy as the current EU chair, pooled representatives from South-East European countries, ten countries that are to join the EU next May, and EU member-countries. (hina) rml