The European Union (EU) wants to improve cooperation, especially with the countries of the Western Balkans, in the fight against the smuggling of firearms, reports Anadolia.
A ministerial conference on combating the trade in firearms in Southeastern Europe was held in Brussels.
The conference was attended by EU High Representative for Foreign Relations and Security Policy Josep Borrell, EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson and other officials.
In their address to the audience, Borrell and Johansson expressed their sadness over two armed attacks in Serbia in which a total of 18 people died in one week.
Borrell said that it is necessary to continue the fight against the spread of firearms so that such incidents do not happen again anywhere in Europe.
“We have a duty to fight to prevent the spread of violence on the European continent,” he said.
Borrell added that the capacities of the Western Balkan countries for detection and investigation have been strengthened, approaching EU standards in the fight against smugglers and avoiding the misuse of firearms.
Johansson pointed out that an action to hand over weapons was organized in Serbia with an initiative supported by the EU.
She reminded that in the last four years in six countries of the Western Balkans – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia – more than 22,000 firearms, more than 750,000 ammunition and 2,400 pieces of explosives were confiscated, and destroyed more than 15 million bullets and shells.
The conference was also attended by the Minister of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nenad Nešić, who led the BiH delegation.
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