Eurasia Press & News
Bosnia and Herzegovina is the fourth country in the region with which Montenegro has signed an extradition agreement.The Justice Ministers of Montenegro and Bosnia, Dusko Markovic and Barisa Colak, signed the extradition agreement on Thursday.
It will allow for the extradition of Montenegrins charged with grave crimes, particularly in the field of organized crime, corruption and money laundering, to Bosnia and vice-versa.
“This is a continuation of our activities to enhance mechanisms and tools for fighting organized crime and corruption,” Markovic said, adding that the two countries had already improved co-operation on many levels, including the police, judiciary and prosecution offices.
Montenegro has already signed extradition agreements with Serbia, Macedonia and Croatia, and is preparing to do the same with Kosovo and Italy.
“This year alone we have 87 active extradition cases – 37 in the region, 23 of them with Serbia, 10 with Croatia, and five with Macedonia,” Markovic noted.
Bosnia has not pursued similar moves with other countries, and its extradition agreement with Montenegro is the first of its kind.
“It is important for us in the region to make breakthroughs, we are doing that. I hope that by the end of the year we will have these agreements signed with all [regional] states,” Colak said.
Previous extradition agreements, starting from Montenegro’s deal signed with Serbia in 2009, won praise from the European Commission as a boost to good neighbourly relations.
The details of agreement between Bosnia and Montenegro have not been made public yet. It is not known whether it foresees extradition in war-crime cases. The lack of such a provision in the agreement with Serbia was criticized by the EU.
