Chapter 7: Corruption and organised crime
136.One witness said “All countries in the region suffer from the same disease, which is killing their economic potentials—endemic corruption and organised crime.”171
Corruption
137.Dr Andi Hoxhaj, University of Warwick, said that “the people in the Western Balkans rank corruption as the most important problem facing their countries”.172 It was a problem recognised by many during our visits to the region, including the Prime Minister of Serbia. In Kosovo we were told that private companies were related to the political system, the awarding of public tenders was a matter of political favour and businesses could be bankrupted by the party system. In Bosnia and Herzegovina we were told that the justice system was corrupt, with judges having been arrested and state prosecutors having to resign because of corruption charges. 173
138.Unemployment in the region is high. The World Bank estimate that across the region the unemployment rate is around 21% with young people and women particularly affected.174 The Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG) linked corruption to this high unemployment rate as it undermined “the positive effect of economic reforms on the business environment” and prevented job growth.175 In Bosnia and Herzegovina we were told that corruption and organised crime were features of state capture and supported a bloated public sector and grey economy, retarding private sector, and therefore employment, growth. There had also been instances of people paying to be employed in the public sector.176
139.This situation is reflected in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, which ranks 176 countries and scores them out of 100 for transparency—the lower the score, the more corrupt the country is perceived to be (see Table 4).
Table 4: Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index 2016
2016
|
2016 Score |
2015 Score |
2014 Score |
|
|
Albania |
83 |
39 |
36 |
33 |
|
Bosnia and Herzegovina |
83 |
39 |
38 |
39 |
|
Kosovo |
95 |
36 |
33 |
33 |
|
Macedonia |
90 |
37 |
42 |
45 |
|
Montenegro |
64 |
45 |
44 |
42 |
|
Serbia |
72 |
42 |
40 |
41 |
Source: Transparency International, Corruption Perceptions Index 2016 : https://www.transparency.org/news/feature/corruption_perceptions_index_2016 [accessed 21 December 2017]
140.The Albanian Ambassador recognised corruption as a problem for his country and gave examples of work to combat it. He cited efforts to make public tenders an online-only system, cutting out the opportunity for corruption because “no contract can be made through people.” Similarly, there were reforms to adopt “e-consulate” services, monitor the traffic police and vet judicial candidates better.177 The Prime Minister of Serbia, Ana Brnabić, also spoke of using “e-government” to reduce the opportunities for corruption.178 However, in Macedonia, where system of e-procurement had been introduced, some people said that ways of circumventing the new systems had already been discovered.179
Organised crime
141.Linked to corruption is organised crime. Professor James Ker-Lindsay, St Mary’s University, described the region’s economic underdevelopment and levels of corruption as creating a “breeding ground for organised crime”.180
142.Organised crime in the region has a direct impact on the UK. For example, the FCO stated that:
“Albanian crime groups have established a high-profile influence within UK organised crime, and have considerable control across the UK drug trafficking market, with particular impact and high-level influence on the cocaine market. Criminals from the Balkans are increasingly expanding their network of influence, forming direct relationships with cocaine suppliers in Latin America. Serbian crime groups dominate high-volume maritime cocaine logistics.”181
143.In Bosnia and Herzegovina we were told that after the end of the war large amounts of weapons disappeared and were now being traded elsewhere in Europe, including in the UK, by organised criminal groups.182
144.Another form of organised crime prevalent in the region is human trafficking. Peter van der Auweraert, International Organisation for Migration, said that trafficking in the Western Balkans “remained the issue that it was before the migration crisis.”183 He spoke of children, especially Roma children, being “moved from one place to another to engage in begging or the sex industry” within the region and in the EU.184 This scenario was also described by La Strada, a Skopje-based NGO, who said that nearly all of the victims of trafficking were under 18 years old.
145.A barrier to tackling human trafficking identified by witnesses was a “lack of proper implementation of an existing legal framework”. This arose from a “lack of understanding of the international human rights standards and case-law in this area” which affected “the performance of the judiciary and other institutions and a comprehensive, multidisciplinary and victim-oriented approach to human trafficking has yet to be developed. Training and support were therefore needed to improve “the knowledge and skills of relevant professionals to enable them to effectively assist and protect victims of trafficking, and to ensure traffickers receive adequate convictions.”185 Peter van der Auweraert thought this was an area where the UK could provide valuable support.186
146.The FCO and Sir Alan Duncan referred to the Government’s National Security Strategy for the Western Balkans which focused on, among other things, “combating the impact from serious and organised crime and terrorism and building resilience within the region to tackle its own problems”.187 The case for continued security co-operation with the EU post-Brexit was made in the Government’s Security, law enforcement and criminal justice: a future partnership paper.188 Sir Alan Duncan, Minister for Europe, said that combatting organised crime was “a key focus” for the UK and one which “ties together all the interests that we need to work on between Western Balkan countries and us.”189
147.The UK must continue to support efforts to combat corruption and organised crime in the region. Close operational links between the UK and the EU after Brexit on all aspects of Justice and Home Affairs Agenda will be essential if the UK’s own internal security is not to be jeopardised.
148.The Western Balkans Summit should focus on what technical support the UK working in partnership with the EU can provide to agencies and governments in the region to combat human trafficking, corruption, organised crime and radicalisation. In particular, this should include providing training to judges, prosecutors and police.
173 See Appendix 6.
174 World Bank Group, Western Balkans Labor Market Trends 2017, April 2017: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/289221491270732309/pdf/113922-REVISED-PUBLIC-Regional-Report-Western-Balkan-Labor-Market-Trends-2017-FINAL-A4-Logo-WB-neu.pdf [accessed 13 December 2017]
176 See Appendix 6.
178 See Appendix 6.
179 Ibid.
182 See Appendix 6.
184 Ibid.
188 HM Government, Security, law enforcement and criminal justice: a future partnership paper (September 2017): https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/645416/Security__law_enforcement_and_criminal_justice_-_a_future_partnership_paper.PDF [accessed 28 November 2017]