TIRANA, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Albanian authorities launched Wednesday the implementation of the PAMECA V project, part of European Union (EU) Mission to assisting Albania's State Police, Ministry of Interior and Prosecution office.
Albanian Minister of Interior Fatmir Xhafaj declared at a conference that this project played a pivotal role in strengthening cooperation between Albania and EU partner countries in the fight against organized crime.
Xhafaj said that many of the challenges associated with reinforcement of the rule of law in Albania were not only challenges facing the Albanian authorities but also international partners.
"In the face of trans-national crime, I have always stressed the need for a new concept of cooperation between our law-enforcement agencies, countries and European partner institutions. In this regard, mutual trust is of paramount importance," Xhafaj said.
EU ambassador to Tirana Romana Vlahutin said that the European Union wanted to assist as much as possible Albania and Albanian police in its fight against organized crime, trafficking, etc.
"The EU is investing 6 million euros (7.47 million U.S. dollars) only in PAMECA V with already significant results. Many of PAMECA's recommendations have been included in the strategic plans of the Minister of Interior such as the operation Power of Law aimed at hitting criminal groups," the ambassador said.
She noted that EU specialized Agencies such as EUROPOL, FRONTEX and EUROJUST were also increasingly cooperating with Albania.
"The logic of our response is very clear: we need to fight it together. European Union, Member States, United States of America, international organizations, we have all got together in a joint effort to pull resources and assist Albanian institutions in becoming stronger and more efficient in the fight against organized crime and corruption," Vlahutin said.
However, she highlighted that the key in this effort was political will and firm determination to deal with a problem without any compromise.
