International co-operation on asset recovery focus of training course held by OSCE and Guardia di Finanza in Rome

The OSCE and the Italian Guardia di Finanza delivered a training course on asset recovery for criminal justice practitioners from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia from 26 to 28 April. The three-day training course aimed to enhance the knowledge and skills of participants related to financial investigations and asset recovery, with a focus on regional and international co-operation in joint investigations.

Counselor Paolo Palminteri, the Head of the OSCE Division at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, praised the OSCE’s co-operation with the Guardia di Finanza and noted that training events such as this one contribute to both capacity building efforts and networking among participants, which can be conducive toward future operational co-operation among participating States.

The training combined theoretical knowledge, case studies and a field visit to the Guardia di Finanza’s General Headquarters in Rome, where participants had the opportunity to learn first-hand about the work of Italy’s economic and financial police. The training event also introduced Guardia di Finanza’s mechanisms for co-operation among police, customs, and fiscal authorities of different countries: its international co-operation structure, co-ordination and joint investigations with foreign counterparts and cross-border asset recovery.

The training course was organized as part of the extra-budgetary project “Strengthening Asset Recovery Efforts in the OSCE Region” implemented by the Transnational Threats Department and the Office of the OSCE Co-ordinator for Economic and Environmental Affairs, with the financial support of Italy, Germany and the United States.