TIRANA, March 27 – He has been dubbed as “the man who made Croatia a member of the European Union” by investigating and convicting high public officials of corruption, and Prosecutor General Dinko Cvitan was in Albania last week to give his experience to his Albanian counterparts.
In Tirana for five days, he shared the Croatian model of integrity, will and pro-activity, and explained the key role of the prosecutors and judges in the fight against corruption at all levels.
Fighting corruption and organized crime remains a top priority which Albania should work on in its long road toward integration into the European Union.
“There is a need for a serious and coherent policy in the fight against organized crime and corruption, with a decisive action leading to proactive and efficient investigations, prosecutions, and final convictions,” Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn, said during his first visit to Tirana earlier last week.
Cvitan was invited as part of the EU-funded Euralius project.
Cvitan is known in Albania as the prosecutor who secured the conviction and imprisonment of Ivo Sanader, the former Croatian premier, proving the country was serious in fighting top-level corruption.
During the visit, Cvitan also met with all top leaders in the country and in all meetings, he highlighted that in the fight against corruption an important factor is the will to succeed but also the will of the legislature to provide a strong legal framework and full independence to relevant institutions to perform – so that reforms lead to an effective and sustainable system.
He gave open lectures with strong messages to serious crimes prosecutors, judges and courts.
During his career, Cvitan was in charge of the prosecution of high level officials such as Sanader, ministers, vice ministers, generals, the ambassador of Croatia to the UN, the mayor of Zagreb and other mayors.
