Albanian prosecutors trained to fight money laundering, terrorist financing

TIRANA, Sept. 22 – U.S. officials started Monday a weeklong training of Albanian investigators and prosecutors on how to fight financial crimes, money laundering and terrorist financing, the U.S. Embassy said. The training was named “Crime Scene Investigations” and held under the auspices of the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security. The training was sponsored by the U.S. departments of Defense, Justice and Treasury and the European Commission, the embassy said. The course covered topics such as techniques in securing crime scenes, evidence gathering, vehicle screenings, and post-bomb blast investigations. The 19 Albanian police officers chosen for the course come from police stations around the country. The training was part of the Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program (ATAP), which was established in 1983, and has trained and assisted over 48,000 foreign security and law enforcement officials in 141 countries.
U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission Stephen Cristina highlighted the importance of the fight against such illicit activities and the link between corruption and these activities, assuring at the same time of the U.S. support for Albania’s efforts in this important fight. “Those who are here today, giving a week of their valuable time to this course, represent the front line in the fight against the illicit activities that are the subject of this training seminar. This is not easy work, and I commend you for your contributions,” he said. “The fight against money laundering, financial crimes, and terrorist financing, as well as the corruption that enables them to take place, are common subjects of debate in Albania, and rightly so given that Albania’s success in this fight will determine how quickly it achieves its goal of entering NATO and the EU.”
Money laundering, financial crimes, and terrorist financing have direct and negative consequences for Albania’s internal and external security if criminals are free to operate with impunity and borders are permeable to dangerous materials and dangerous people, according to Cristina. Sophisticated financial crimes and money laundering are increasingly used around the world to finance terrorism, often in countries far from the site of any actual terrorist event. The existence of these phenomena severely lowers the attractiveness of Albania as a target of foreign direct investment. Without positive economic prospects, there is a temptation for the most promising young Albanians to leave the country and the “brain drain” phenomenon will continue. Fighting these ills is critical to Albania’s prosperity and to realizing the hopes of the younger generation. Ridding Albania of these scourges is key to Albania’s image abroad. In the worlds of international business and politics, image really is everything, said Cristina.
Fighting organized crime and corruption in Albania, one of the poorest countries in Europe, is a precondition for the country’s possible future membership in NATO and the EU.