Theresa May will today call on European countries to work to strengthen the institutions of the Western Balkans in order to tackle organised crime, improve governance and allow the region to move on from the legacy of conflict.
The Prime Minister will use her intervention at the Western Balkans Summit to demonstrate the UKs long-term commitment to ensuring stability and security in the region in order to firmly address the legacies of conflict.
She will say that crimes such as money laundering, human and drugs trafficking, weapons trading, cyber-attacks and terrorism threaten lives in the UK and undermine security and stability in the Western Balkans.
The PM is expected to say:
There is no doubt that serious and organised crime and corruption are security challenges we all face across Europe. They can only be tackled by strong international cooperation.
The PM will add:
The UK remains a committed friend of the region. I remain confident that by working together, we can make progress that will do justice to the peaceful, prosperous, European aspirations of the people of the Western Balkans.
At a meeting of Interior Ministers on Thursday, countries signed-up to an illicit finance and anti-corruption roadmap developed by the UK. This will work to strengthen institutions to prevent the Western Balkans being a refuge for organisations engaged in illicit activities.
The Prime Minister will argue that European countries must play their part to increase security in this important region. At the Western Balkans summit hosted in London last year, the UK committed to double spending on security in the Western Balkans to £80m by 2020/21.
UK cooperation with the region and European partners has previously delivered positive results, including bringing down a crime network which was estimated to have imported an average of more than 8,000kg of cocaine a year into the UK, with an estimated streetRead More – Source
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