Regional Component of UNODC GlobE Network Strengthens Cross-Border Cooperation to Counter Corruption and Recover Stolen Assets in the Western Balkans

26-27 November - Fruška Gora, Serbia - The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) hosted a regional meeting of the GlobE Network’s Western Balkans component to strategize on cross-border cooperation in the fight against corruption.

The Global Operational Network of Anti-Corruption Law Enforcement Authorities (GlobE) was launched in 2021 aiming to counter corruption and trace, seize, and return stolen assets to their rightful owners. The GlobE Network facilitates direct contact among practitioners worldwide and enables rapid action through a secure communication platform.

In 2023, representatives from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia formally launched a regional component of this GlobE network to facilitate communication exchange and peer learning between their anti-corruption law enforcement authorities.

During the meeting, UNODC’s GlobE secretariat provided a detailed overview of the network’s progress, followed by a discussion on the structure, responsibilities, and strategic priorities for the regional component. Participants explored opportunities to harmonize the regional component’s working modalities with local practices.

The meeting also addressed challenges in informal cooperation among regional authorities. GlobE contact points identified common barriers and proposed actionable solutions to improve communication channels across jurisdictions.

The discussions reinforced the GlobE Network’s pivotal role as a platform for international collaboration and innovation in combating corruption. UNODC reiterated its commitment to supporting member states in leveraging informal cooperation for more effective investigations and advancing the fight against corruption.

The GlobE regional component is an outcome of UNODC’s efforts to build capacities on the criminal justice response to corruption within the framework of its regional platform for fast-tracking implementation of the UN Convention against Corruption in the Western Balkans and the related Regional Anti-Corruption and Illicit Finance Roadmap, endorsed by all Western Balkan jurisdictions in 2021.