Regional Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Dagmar Thomas assessed Tuesday that Serbia has achieved great success in the adoption of legislation and forming institutions that deal in battling the drug trafficking, terrorism and organized crime and commended the actions carried out by the Serbian police in these areas.

After talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Ivica Dacic, Thomas expressed readiness to foster cooperation between the UN agencies and Serbian institutions in the future.

UNDOC knows that the Serbian government was successful in passing new laws and establishing institutions to fight organized crime, terrorism and corruption, she told reporters.

Thomas pointed out that UNDOC also recognizes the highly successful work of the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs in these areas and in combatting human trafficking.

The goal of the visit to Belgrade is to improve cooperation, she said, adding that this can be done through the initiation of new joint projects in various fields.

Dacic said that the Serbian Interior Ministry and UNDOC already successfully collaborated on various projects and expressed his willingness for mutual relations to be improved.

Serbia's strategic interest is to improve partnerships with international organizations and institutions in the fight against crime, Dacic said.

He also said that he proposed to UNDOC on behalf of the Serbian government to open a regional office in Belgrade, which would contribute to strengthening Serbia's capacity to fight drugs, crime and terrorism.

He added that he also proposed organizing in late June in Belgrade a regional conference dedicated to combating terrorism and preventing the financing of terrorist activities.

Dacic also recalled that, as part of the cooperation of his ministry and UNDOC, he signed last year in Vienna a memorandum on the establishment of an international academy for the fight against corruption.

The meeting between Dacic and Thomas was also attended by the United Nations Coordinator for Serbia William Infante.