The activity information and Report on the security situation in the Republic of Serbia for said periods were presented by Minister of the Interior Dr Nebojsa Stefanovic. The Minister said that overall, crime had gone down by 8.2% and there were positive results in the detection of drug-related crimes. Successful international cooperation resulted in the detection of two labs in the vicinity of Vienna, in cooperation with the Austrian police, and the arrest of five Serbian nationals. A September action resulted in the first seizure of the “drug of the gods” transported from Colombia.

Speaking of organized human trafficking and smuggling, 14 criminal charges were filed against 22 persons for 16 acts of human trafficking and 51 charges against 43 persons for 54 acts of human smuggling.

Domestic violence had also gone down in the reporting period by 17% which the Minister believes is due to the new law on the prevention of domestic violence. Committee Chairperson Marija Obradovic commented on the media’s sensationalist reports on domestic violence stressing that they could cause undue fear that domestic violence is on the rise, when the truth is that there have been a staggering 1000 fewer instances of domestic violence reported than in the same period in 2017.

Minister Stefanovic went on to say that crime against property had gone down by 8.8%, especially grand larceny and robberies. Public order and peace in 2018 has been kept even with the series of events and public gatherings that took place in the period.

There had been no terrorist attacks or provocations on the territory of Kosovo-Metohija in the reporting period and the security situation is relatively stable.

Speaking of traffic safety, the Minister said that traffic accidents had gone down by 4.8% compared to the last quarter of 2017.

The Committee unanimously accepted the Ministry of the Interior activity information for the periods July – September 2018 and October – December 2018, as well as the Ministry of the Interior Report on the security situation in the Republic of Serbia for the period July – December 2018.

The sitting was chaired by Committee Chairperson Marija Obradovic, and was attended by the following Committee members and deputy members: Stefana Miladinovic, Bozidar Delic, Milovan Drecun, Aleksandar Markovic, Sandra Bozic, Borisav Kovacevic, Prof. Dr Zoran Dragisic, Dubravka Filipovski, MA Igor Becic and Jasmina Obradovic.