TOMCIC: CROATIA SUPPORTS UN PROGRAMMES ON FIGHTING CORRUPTION

STRASBOURG, May 6 (Hina) - Croatia agrees with the programmes of the United Nations and other international organisations aimed at fighting corruption and corruption-related crime, Croatian National Sabor President Zlatko Tomcic on Saturday told a two-day conference of European parliament presidents, which was held in Strasbourg. The second and last day of the conference was dedicated to inter- parliamentary cooperation of Council of Europe member-countries in fighting international crime and corruption. The conference, which was chaired by the president of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, also discussed and adopted recommendations on cooperation between national parliaments in applying and developing European norms and systems based on the principles of democracy, rule of law and human rights. The conference adopted Croatia's candidacy for hosting the next conference of the presidents of European parliamentary assemblies in 2002. Addressing the conference, Tomcic expressed gratitude for the trust Croatia and the Sabor had been given. He called on all Stability Pact member-countries and competent international organisations and institutions to participate in the work of the conference of parliamentary presidents of Stability Pact member- countries, to be held on September 11-13 2000 in Zagreb. Speaking about fighting corruption, Tomcic agreed with the assessments presented in the introductory speech, delivered by his Italian counterpart Luciano Violante, that a closer cooperation between national and international parliamentary bodies was necessary for securing "democratic responsibility and greater transparency of efforts made by governments in that area." The role of parliaments is important as regards the adoption of effective legal regulations harmonised with international instruments against corruption, however, it is "not the only, and very often, not the crucial element," Tomcic said. The attitude of the public or the social climate is the widest and most favourable framework, including education, for fighting crime and corruption efficiently," the Sabor President said. "Croatia is currently conducting criminal proceedings also against some highly positioned officials of the former government and intends to persevere in its decision to process all those who have committed such acts." Croatia has signed and ratified the Council of Europe's convention on money laundering and is ready to join the OECD convention on preventing the bribing of foreign officials participating in international business transactions. "Croatia believes it is its obligation to also ratify as soon as possible the Council of Europe's penal and civil conventions on corruption," Tomcic said. Croatia is in a special position regarding the expected arrival of significant financial assistance, especially that for development programmes, and regarding the still unfinished processes of privatisation of large companies. This is why the country has joined the Initiative for Preventing Corruption for South-East European countries within the Stability Pact, Tomcic said. The Croatian government has recently formed a co-ordination for fighting white-collar crime, which will report on results in the prevention of corruption in the management of international assistance to Croatia, Tomcic said. (hina) rml