The implementation of the International Treaty on Exchange of Data for the Verification of Asset Declarations, which has been signed by Montenegro, Serbia and North Macedonia for the time being, will strengthen cooperation regarding the disclosure of assets of public officials at the regional and international level. On today's regional meeting in Podgorica dedicated to this treaty, it was said that further work is needed on the integration and operationalization of the treaty.

The event was organized by the Regional Anti-Corruption Initiative (RAI) in cooperation with the Agency for Prevention of Corruption (APC), with the support of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Austrian Development Agency (ADA).

The meeting was attended by Ambassador of Austria Dr. Karl Müller, Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina Branimir Jukić, representatives of the embassies of the United States of America and Ukraine, the Delegation of the European Union, the OSCE Mission, as well as anti-corruption institutions from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Moldova and North Macedonia.

Opening the event, the president of the APC Council, Momčilo Radulović, briefly presented the competences of the Agency, with an overview of the reform activities undertaken since the election of the new convocation of this body in July 2019. Closer regional cooperation in the exchange of data for the verification of statements on income and assets aims to apply the standards of the European Union in this area, Radulović concluded.

On behalf of the organizers, the head of the RAI Secretariat, Desislava Gotskova, pointed out that the International Treaty is one of the key elements in the fight against corruption in the region, and that it has the potential to be recognized as an extremely useful anti-corruption tool in the wider European area.

Speaking about the International Treaty, Head of Cooperation at the Delegation of the European Union to Montenegro, Ingve Engström said that it is necessary for the authorities of the three signatory countries to transpose the treaty into national legislation and provide for concrete rules for implementation and procedural settings to enable its implementation.

Austrian Ambassador Karl Müller said that tracing and identifying the source of assets is one of the primary duties and activities in the fight against corruption.

APC Director Jelena Perović reminded that the treaty has not yet been ratified and called on decision-makers to complete that process, as well as representatives of other countries of the Western Balkans to join in signing it, with the aim of strengthening the preventive anti-corruption system in their countries and further improving regional cooperation.

Representatives of anti-corruption institutions from the region and Moldova had the opportunity to present their experiences and practices during the meeting, as well as the challenges they face in the field of verification of income and property statements, as an important tool in strengthening the integrity of public officials and state administration as a whole.

The International Treaty on Exchange of Data for the Verification of Asset Declarations was signed on March 19, 2021 in Belgrade by the ministers responsible for judicial affairs of Montenegro, Serbia and North Macedonia.