Minister of Justice Snezana Malovic and her Slovene counterpart Ales Zalar signed today an Agreement on Legal Assistance in Civil and Criminal Matters and an Agreement on Extradition of Nationals, the first such document which Serbia has signed with an EU member.

Malovic told Tanjug news agency that the signing of these bilateral agreements on international legal assistance with Slovenia will immensely help the development of judicial cooperation, especially regarding fight against organised crime and corruption.

She underlined that this is the first extradition agreement Serbia has signed with an EU country and therefore represents recognition of the struggle Serbia is conducting against organised crime.

At the fringes of the conference dedicated to the fight against organised crime held at Brdo pri Kranju, Malovic spoke with the US Attorney General who also performs the function of the minister of justice.

She pointed out that, since the Serbian Ministry of Justice is completing the provisions of the extradition treaty it is to sign with the US Department of Justice, she was invited to sign this contract in Washington.

I expect that we will implement this agreement very soon because this would be an expression of US assistance to the Serbian Ministry of Justice and the Serbian government in the fight against organised crime, Malovic said.