1. Why anti-corruption efforts fail? Partnership for Social Development, IAAC Athens, October/November 2008

2. Balkans – the way we do it war leaders – “war heroes” - war criminals ✔ All over the Balkans, during wars and today - strong connections between “worst enemies” (Alija Delimustafić, Gojko Šušak, Slobodan Milošević, Milorad Ulemek – Legija, Ramiz Delalić Ćelo, Željko Ražnjatović Arkan, Naser Orić...) Partnership for Social Development, IAAC Athens, October/November 2008

3. Processes that generated systemic corruption in Balkan countries: ✔ War ✔ Privatisation ✔ Movement of persons and “cleansing” public administration of “spies and enemies of the nation” ✔ Civil society (when lack integrity) Partnership for Social Development, IAAC Athens, October/November 2008

4. 1. War and corruption During wars, the first to suffer are always fundamental freedoms, civil oversight of the government, media, civil society, and the rule of law in general. In the Balkans, the process was fuelled by sanctions on purchasing of weapons imposed by western countries that gave birth to mafia- politics “joint ventures”. Partnership for Social Development, IAAC Athens, October/November 2008

5. 2. Privatisation Objectives of first phase of privatisation: ✔ To make political leaders wealthy and not worrying about their financial future ✔ To gain control over the country key financial resources, unknown owners and/or their “public representatives” (black funds) ✔ To “repay” the criminals for their services ✔ To “buy” those who might block the attempts to capture the state, and turn them into allies ✔ To reward those who will contribute to “national interests” ✔ To gain control over the key public instruments such as media Partnership for Social Development, IAAC Athens, October/November 2008

6. 3. Cleansing of public administration ✔ Large number of people in public administration, judiciary, police, defense, media (especially in Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia), were fired from their jobs. Justification – “spies and enemies of the nation” ✔ Their places were filled with people who would “listen and obey”, regardless of the fact whether they possessed necessary qualifications for the job and positions they were appointed to. Today, they are “best soldiers” of corrupt networks ✔ One of the ways they became irreplaceable – destruction of important/incriminating documents prior to changes in government Partnership for Social Development, IAAC Athens, October/November 2008

7. Lack of CSO’s integrity ✔ Large amounts of money invested in CSO’s in the SEE region, regardless of the existing capacities, accountability and good governance standards in CSO sector ✔ After first changes took place, CSO’s became partners of the state and of the politics that failed in meeting citizens expectations Partnership for Social Development, IAAC Athens, October/November 2008

8. First actions against corruption (2000 onward) ✔ Regional and national action plans ✔ International treaties related to fight against corruption and organized crime ✔ “Join the club” - CoE and Stability Pact initiatives ✔ SAA agreements with EU ✔ Civil society cooperating with state actors ✔ “Let’s do public awareness campaigns” Partnership for Social Development, IAAC Athens, October/November 2008

9. Where are we now? ✔ Large resources invested in fight against corruption – but it remains a problem ✔ Lessons learned (Bulgaria, Romania) – EU accession - turning point where process starts to go backwards ✔ Balkan countries interconnected at many levels - synchronized regional approach to fight corruption and organized crime is a necessity ✔ Political will to fight corruption in the SEE countries is only declaratory, no follow up actions ✔ The role of the civil society in fighting corruption is endangered - the practice of “fostering cooperation between civil society and the state” ✔ Dangers of fight against corruption – people suffered damage in their efforts to disclose or tackle corruption and organized crime ✔ So far, large anti-corruption campaigns without epilogue – more damage than good Partnership for Social Development, IAAC Athens, October/November 2008

10. Effects of such developments ✔ Homes for the elderly in the City of Zagreb ✔ “Streaptease” affair ✔ Mario Bertina – degradation of a police officer ✔ Robert Matijević – degradation of a Chief of Customs ✔ Renata Ivanović – fired investigative journalist ✔ Danica Juričić – fired investigative journalist ✔ Dušan Miljuš – investigative journalist severely beaten ✔ Igor Rađenović – Zagreb City official beaten up ✔ Ivo Pukanić & Niko Franić – assassinated journalists ✔ PSD – regular threats Partnership for Social Development, IAAC Athens, October/November 2008

11. Conclusion Although many experts agree that fight against corruption is evolution rather than revolution, and that we are making progress, situations just described show no sign of true evolution. Our tools and applied means have to match the description of the problem. We need to define the problem and recognize it in all its aspects. The same as cancer that cannot be treated with a plastic spoon, corruption cannot be “treated” with public awareness campaigns telling people that they have a problem. Partnership for Social Development, IAAC Athens, October/November 2008

12. Recommendations ✔ Create understanding among anti-corruption stakeholders (not an ad hoc activity but a permanent need) ✔ Build political integrity and integrity of the public administration ✔ Build integrity of the NGO’s, media and other anti- corruption stakeholders ✔ Design permanent policy evaluation bodies on regional/international level for monitoring of the implementation of existing international/national anti- corruption responses and their efficiency. Not just peer evaluations (eg. GRECO) ✔ Establish efficient and “real” regional and national instruments for protection of the anti-corruption professionals and activists Partnership for Social Development, IAAC Athens, October/November 2008

13. Recommendations ✔ Design measures that will simplify anti-corruption investigation and prosecution ✔ Design instruments for efficient regional and/or multinational investigations and prosecution of corruption. ✔ Ensure commitment and resources for long term fight against corruption on international, regional and national levels ✔ Ensure existence of the independent media and “non-cooperative” NGO’s ✔ Ensure that in anti-corruption dialogue all voices are heard Partnership for Social Development, IAAC Athens, October/November 2008

14. United Nations Convention Against Corruption “Article 20” Help us transpose “Article 20” of the UN Convention Against Corruption into our national legislation. Not as a declaration but as an effective anti- corruption tool. Partnership for Social Development, IAAC Athens, October/November 2008