OSCE workshop promotes social re-use of confiscated assets in Serbia and North Macedonia

Promoting the social re-use of assets confiscated from criminal activity was the focus of two online workshops for Serbian and North Macedonian civil society organizations, law enforcement practitioners, asset management agencies and prosecutions offices, which were held on 7 and 10 December 2020. More than 30 participants attended. The workshops are part of a series of national workshops the OSCE is organizing for five South-Eastern European countries to promote the social re-use of assets as an efficient tool in preventing and fighting against organized crime and corruption.

The events were organized as part of the OSCE extra-budgetary initiative led by the OSCE Secretariat’s Transnational Threats Department and the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities on asset recovery-related efforts in South-Eastern Europe.

The workshops aim to reinforce the importance of asset re-use for social purposes among government agencies and civil society; build awareness of the infiltration of organized crime money in the legal economy; and foster a public discourse on the role of civil society in the fight against organized crime and corruption.

Opening the meeting for Serbian participants, Carlo Lo Cascio, Italian Ambassador to Serbia, said: “In line with the goals of the project, we have also emphasized and supported the importance of a joint response to organized crime involving civil society, that in Serbia — and in the Western Balkans — should play a fundamental role in developing a common effort towards the progress needed.”

Ambassador Clemens Koja, Head of OSCE Mission to Skopje addressed the attendees of the workshop for North Macedonia, and highlighted the importance of a multi-stakeholder approach. “There can be no real progress in increasing accountability and transparency, without the reinforced joint efforts between governments and civil society organizations.”  

During both workshops, participants were familiarized with the national legislative framework under which assets can be socially re-used. They also learned from international civil society organizations and experts on best practices to convert confiscated assets into safe places for communities and use them for social, cultural and rehabilitation purposes.

The donors of this cross-dimensional project are the United States Department of State, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom.