Discussion on the risks of corruption in the Ministry of Defence

During this meeting it was pointed out that in the coming period the Ministry of Defence is set to expand, intensify and specify cooperation with all stakeholders at national, regional and international level, which are focused at building integrity, reducing the risk of corruption in the defence system and encouraging the development of good governance. Accordingly, participants came to an agreement regarding the way of exchanging information with the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy, the external evaluator hired by “Transparency International UK” during the investigation called “Index of fighting corruption in the area of defence at the level of the states/governments” 2014/15.

“Researching the risk of corruption is an important preventive mechanism when it comes to fighting against corruption, because it identifies weak points and activities in organizations and systems that may lead to corruption in the future. It is very important to create this evaluations as objective as possible. To provide that it must be used diverse, reliable and independent sources of information. Objective and public corruption risk assessments are a good indicator of the willingness of institutions to fight the corruption on time”, stressed the BCSP Executive Director Predrag Petrovic.

Assistant Minister for Defense Policy Miroslav Jovanovic emphasized that building of integrity and reducing the risk of corruption, as well as establishing “zero tolerance” towards any manifestation of corruption in the defense system is one of the most important objectives when it comes to reforming  the defense system.

Besides BCSP representatives, the meeting was also attended by representatives of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces, the representative of Transparency International UK- Oliver Cover, State Secretary in the Ministry of Interior Vladimir Bozovic, Secretary of the  Defence and Internal Affairs Committee of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia Milan Čuljkovic, Senior Advisor at the Agency for the Fight against Corruption, Milos Mojsilovic and the representative of the British Defence Ministry delegation Milica Naumovic.

The research of presence of corruption risks in the defence system of the Republic of Serbia is carried out by “Transparency International UK“, as part of the second cycle of studies “Index fight against corruption in defense at the level of state / government” (Government Defence Anticorruption Index). The first cycle of this research was conducted during 2012, when the analysis included the systems of defence of 82 states and territories of the world, and the research results were published in January 2013. The second cycle is being carried out during the year 2014. It will include 136 countries and territories and publication of results is expected in the beginning of the year 2015.

Text translated by BCSP intern Ana Duraki.