Serbian President Boris Tadic said on Oct. 4 that Serbia in 2010 had the full institutional capacity to fight organized crime and urged countries in the region and members of the European Union to work together more intensively in that struggle.

At the opening of an international conference entitled "Building Regional and Transnational Cooperation as the Condition for the Successful Fight against Organized Crime in South East Europe," Tadic said organized crime in Serbia had no influence today on various segments of society and on parties, "though there are certain tendencies toward it."

Tadic commended cooperation among South East European countries in combating organized crime, and held up Serbia's cooperation with Croatia as an example, stating that the two countries were the axis of the struggle against organized crime in the region.

Vincent Degert, chief of the European Union Delegation to Serbia, pointed out the importance of regional collaboration, adding that the problem of crime could often be an impediment for countries striving to become EU members.

Dimitrios Kypreos, head of the OSCE Mission in Serbia, emphasized that political will on the part of decision-makers was necessary to achieving good results in the fight against crime.

The two-day ministerial conference has brought together representatives of police forces and judicial systems of South East European and EU countries.