The permanent U.N. coordinator in Serbia, William Infante, fiercely criticized the government on Nov. 15 because of the absence of significant results in the fight against corruption, and pointed out that, according to a UNDP survey, the public administration and police were the most corrupt entities in Serbia.

"Reviewing the anti-corruption strategy in Serbia will certainly take a while, because there were bad intentions from the start, since it says nowhere that the government is dedicated to the fight against corruption and will pursue a policy of zero tolerance. This has been muddled up deliberately," Infante said at a regional conference titled "Partnership Against Corruption" in Belgrade.

Infante asked Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic about his promise that a corruption action plan would be put into place by the end of the year. He pointed out that anti-corruption institutions were weak, that their future was uncertain and that they were understaffed.

Infante praised the work of the commissioner for information of public importance and the ombudsman, stating that it was better to help institutions than to criticize them. He said that, in Serbia, expectations and acceptance of corruption were high, and that this was why systemic corruption existed.

The permanent U.N. coordinator also indicated the importance media activity in combating corruption but warned that many publications were the property of parties or individuals, were often not objective or unbiased.