Annual Conference: 25-26 November 2011, Sofie – Bulgaria

IDM Senior Researcher Mr. Arjan Dymishi participated in the annual conference of RiskMonitor Foundation which was devoted to the institutional response in the combat of organized crime in the Balkans.

The international conference, which took place on 25-26 November in Sofia, gathered over 30 Bulgarian and international experts from the Balkan countries to discuss regional cooperation and the mechanisms needed to improve the inter-agency collaboration in the fight against organized crime.

IDM Senior Researcher Mr. Arjan Dyrmishi addressed the participants with his presentation “Promoting Regional Cooperation in the Field of Organized Crime”, providing an overview of the Balkan cooperation and collective approach to organized crime in the region. His presentation provoked different discussions from participants coming from different countries of the Western Balkans. During the discussions after the panel presentations, the conference participants agreed that the countries in the Balkans share many similarities in their approach to fight organized crime and face similar difficulties in the process, as well. In this respect, all of them emphasized the need for strengthening the efforts for regional cooperation.On the other hand conference participants focused on the risks and challenges of organized crime to democracy and the electoral process, as well as the risks related to the high levels of institutional corruption and the involvement of crime networks in the political process.