10.12.2025.
On the occasion of International Anti-Corruption Day and the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, an international conference was organized, in cooperation with the OSCE Mission to Serbia, dedicated to strengthening anti-corruption mechanisms and developing institutional cooperation at the international level.
The conference, titled 15 Years of Development of Anti-Corruption Mechanisms Based on International Institutional Cooperation, brought together the highest representatives of all three branches of government of the Republic of Serbia, the diplomatic corps, international and regional organizations, independent institutions, the academic community, civil society, and the media.
The guests were welcomed by Dejan Damnjanović, Director of the Agency, followed by addresses from Prof. Dr. Đuro Macut, Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia; Prof. Dr. Dejan Vuk Stanković, Minister of Education; Nenad Vujić, Minister of Justice; Marcel Peško, Ambassador and Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia; Plamena Halaceva, Deputy Ambassador of the EU Delegation to Serbia; Matilde Mordt, UN Resident Coordinator in Serbia; and Maria Tripodi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Italy.
On this occasion, Ambassador Marcel Peško of the OSCE Mission to Serbia stated:
“Corruption is a systemic challenge that undermines security. The fight against corruption requires a structured, comprehensive societal approach that brings together institutions, civil society, and the media, and demands long-term commitment.”
Ambassador Peško stressed the need to focus on corruption prevention and emphasized that, in this regard, the OSCE Mission to Serbia supported the development of the Teacher’s Manual – Developing Anti-Corruption Awareness among Primary and Secondary School Students, which will contribute to shaping future curricula in the field of combating corruption. This is one of the many ways in which the Mission supports national efforts in the fight against corruption.
“Serbia is part of the OSCE Regional Trial Monitoring Project, implemented by the OSCE and funded by the European Union, through which Mission experts monitor cases of serious corruption and organized crime with the aim of strengthening judicial independence and improving the efficiency of handling these cases,” the Ambassador added.
At the conference, Agency Director Dejan Damnjanović and Prof. Dr. Zoran Đurđević, Rector of the University of Criminalistics and Police, signed a Cooperation Agreement.
The results of the Agency’s work over the past 15 years were presented within the thematic panel “Key Developments in the Development of Anti-Corruption Mechanisms”, along with the Manual: Developing Anti-Corruption Awareness among Primary and Secondary School Students, developed on the basis of a Cooperation Agreement with the Ministry of Education, the Institute for the Improvement of Education, and the Institute for the Evaluation of the Quality of Education. The panelists in this segment were Constantine Palicarsky, Crime Prevention and Criminal Law Officer at the UN Office on Drugs and Crime; Zlatko Grušanović, PhD, Director of the Institute for the Improvement of Education; and, on behalf of the Agency, Nataša Božić, Jelena Ivanović, and Dejan Milić, PhD.
The second panel, entitled “International Partners, Common Goals: Anti-Corruption Cooperation”, featured speakers Mladen Tomović, Deputy President of the Council of the the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption of Montenegro; Cveta Ristovska, Deputy President of the State Commission for the Prevention of Corruption of the Republic of North Macedonia; Georg Stawa, Counselor for South-East Europe at the Embassy of the Republic of Austria; Fabio Seragusa, Attaché of the Financial Police at the Embassy of the Republic of Italy; Aleksandar Đorđević, Anti-Corruption Officer from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime; and Bojana Smartek from the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption.
In his concluding remarks, Director Damnjanović presented the conference conclusions, which relate to cooperation with higher education institutions; implementation of the Cooperation Agreement signed with the Ministry of Education and two professional institutes; work on the new Unified Information System of the Agency; development of the Catalogue of Public Functions; amendments to the Law on Prevention of Corruption, the Law on Financing of Political Activities, and the Law on Lobbying; strengthening of the Agency’s regional units (Novi Sad, Niš, Kragujevac); formation of the Agency’s educational teams and the creation of a training network; as well as improving procedures for developing and implementing integrity plans.
In recognition of their contribution to the Agency’s achievements, awards were presented to the Agency’s managers from previous periods — Director Tatjana Đurkić and Deputy Director Vladan Joksimović — as well as to members of the Agency Council and retired Agency employees.
