Parliament adopts the Law on the Vetting of State Police. The new law sets principles, criteria, procedures and standards of evaluation and aims to guarantee professionalism and ethical conduct for all members of the State Police, Republican Guard and the Internal Affairs and Complaints Service of the Ministry of Interior. As such, the law also aims to enhance confidence within the police ranks and increase public trust in law enforcement. During a press conference, Deputy Interior Minister Julian Hodaj said that the re-evaluation will cover 12,300 policemen and other law enforcement personnel at all levels, who will be required to answer questions related to their incomes and property, as well as their moral and financial integrity. Officers will have the option to leave the ranks in the first 30 days after the law enters into force. Following the Justice Reform, this law is considered to be the most important mechanism,  the implementation of which depends on cleansing the State Police of those accused of involvement in illegal activity.

UN adopts Azerbaijan-initiated resolution on “Promoting human rights and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through transparent, accountable and efficient public services delivery”. Based on the Azerbaijan Service and Assessment Network (ASAN) concept, the Resolution was adopted by the UN Human Rights Council at the initiative of Azerbaijan and was co-authored by 72 other countries. The adoption of the Resolution is a clear indication of the support given by the international human rights community to the on-going reforms carried out in the field of human rights and the fight against corruption in Azerbaijan, as well as the establishment and expansion of the "ASAN Service".

Risk assessment to be implemented in banking sector. The Financial Markets Supervisory Authority (FIMSA) is planning to conduct risk assessments of the banking sector in accordance with the Strategic Road Map on the Development of Financial Services. Furthermore, FIMSA noted that the normalisation of Azerbaijan’s banking sector is one of its priorities in 2018.

Prosecutor General's offices of Belarus and Moldova step up international legal cooperation. Following a working meeting between the heads of the Prosecutor General's offices, the two countries expressed their intent to strengthen international legal cooperation in a joint fight against crime and corruption. An interdepartmental cooperation agreement has been drafted to regulate Belarus-Moldova interaction at the stages of preliminary investigation and the consideration of citizens' requests, and also regarding the exchange of sensitive information related to criminal cases.

Belarus to join strategic partnership against crime and drugs in Eastern Europe. As part of the 61st session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna, Alena Kupchyna, the Vice Chairperson of the Commission and Belarus' Permanent Representative to the international organisations in Vienna, attended a high-level event to mark the launch of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime document (UNODC) on strategic partnership and programmatic actions in Eastern Europe. The document defines the strategic framework of cooperation between the UNODC and Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine. Priority areas include: combating transnational organised crime; a comprehensive and balanced approach in the fight against drugs; countermeasures to corruption; and assistance to the development of legal systems. The total budget of the events envisaged in the document is $9 million.

Failure to amend the Criminal Procedure Code could seriously harm BiH judiciary. The failure of the BiH authorities to adopt amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), and by doing so harmonize the disputed provisions of the law with the Constitution, could seriously jeopardize the functioning of the judiciary. If provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, affected by the Constitutional Court’s decision from June 2017, are repealed by the Court through a decision on non-enforcement of its earlier decision, the judiciary will be seriously crippled and it will not be able to process serious cases of crime and corruption in the country. Authorities need to acknowledge the seriousness of this situation and act accordingly in line with their responsibility to amend the Criminal Procedure Code.

New anti-money laundering act. The new Anti-Money Laundering Act was published in the State Gazette on 27 March 2018 after being recently adopted by the Parliament. The final version of the Act contains some changes from its initial draft. Regarding Obliged Entities, after lobbying by the Association of Insurance Companies, the final Act requires insurance companies to apply anti-money laundering (“AML”) measures to health insurance policies only, and not for other types of insurance. The Act contains new AML provisions for non-profit organisations. While no changes were made regarding the size of fines, at the last moment, however, a change in procedure resulted in fines also being imposed by the Registry Agency as administrator of the Central Ultimate Beneficial Owner Register.

Prosecutors charge 11 Bulgarian National Revenue Agency staff over corruption. Eleven employees of the National Revenue Agency in Sofia are to face charges of corruption while some also will face charges of money laundering and one with heading an organised crime group, Bulgaria’s Interior Ministry said on 28 March. The announcement came a day after reports that members of the Special Prosecutor’s Office and the Chief Directorate for Combating Organised Crime had carried out raids in Sofia and two other towns. The statement described the employees as an organised crime group, and said that the group had been subject to monitoring since October 2017.

EU Launches New Eastern Partnership Structure to keep on delivering to benefit citizens. Representatives from EU Member States and the six Partner countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine) met in Brussels on 12 March and agreed on the key priorities for 2018 to deliver on the commitments taken at the Eastern Partnership (EaP) Summit in November last year. Opening the event, Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations stated: “I welcome the strong commitment by all partners to deliver on the issues that have a meaningful impact on lives of citizens across the Eastern Partnership.”

JIACC refers several alleged corruption cases to prosecutor. The Jordan Integrity and Anti-Corruption Commission (JIACC) has referred a number of cases related to misuse of public office and conflict of interest to the prosecution office for further investigation. According to the Jordan News Agency, Petra, a ministry has been referred to the JIACC prosecutor for organising a conference without following the relevant rules and procedures, thus incurring the ministry's budget a net loss of JD500,000 that was illegally disbursed.

Jordan reshuffles cabinet as it faces economic and security challenges. The Jordanian King Abdullah II has approved a cabinet reshuffle, replacing ministers in key domestic portfolios such as interior, labour and the economy at a time of continued economic downturn.

New law on the prevention of conflicts of interest. Kosovo* Assembly has adopted the new Law on Prevention of Conflict of Interest in the Exercise of Public Functions. This is the third initiative following two previous attempts since 2013 that received substantial support and technical assistance from the Council of Europe through the EU/CoE Joint Project against Economic Crime (PECK II).

Court releases Azem Syla from custody. Pristina's Basic Court has released the former Democratic Party of Kosovo MP and former Kosovo* Liberation Army commander, who is accused of organised crime and money laundering and has been in custody since 2016. The decision comes weeks after the case was transferred from the EU rule-of-law mission in Kosovo* (EULEX) to local judges. In October 2016, Kosovo*'s special prosecution filed two indictments for organised crime and money laundering against 22 and 17 persons, respectively, that it said Syla had led.

Kyrgyz Demonstrators Demand Dismissal of 'Corrupt' Judges. At least 200 protesters have rallied in downtown Bishkek, demanding judicial reforms and the dismissal of "corrupt judges." The protesters rallied in front of the Supreme Court on 5 March and then marched to the building that houses the Kyrgyz parliament and presidential administration. The demonstrators had a list of more than 20 judges they alleged are corrupt and urged President Sooronbai Jeenbekov to replace them. They also demanded the resignation of the chief of the State Committee for National Security, Abdil Segizbaev. Some protesters held portraits of opposition politicians jailed on charges that are widely seen as political. One of the demonstrators, prominent human rights activist Rita Karasartova, said that since neither presidential representatives nor lawmakers had met with the protesters, an anticorruption movement will be established.

The Prosecutor General's Office jointly with the State Service on Fighting Economic Crimes revealed damage to the country's economy of more than 800 million soms. On 20 March, based on the results of joint inspections, consistent corrupt ties among the high state officials responsible for tax and customs administration and the private commercial structures were detected. The inspection found that the Government’s Commission on Reimbursement and Refund of Value Added Tax (VAT), accepted decisions on VAT refund to certain private companies that were illegal or opposed to state interests. Thus, based on the results of these inspections, the supervisory authority identified material damage to the state for a total amount of 847 million 441 thousand soms. The Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic has initiated criminal cases against the members of the said Commission and other related persons.

The Minister of Justice resigns. Alexandru Tanase announced his resignation on social media on 11 March. This decision came after Journal TV published a phone conversation that Mr Tanase had when he was head of the Constitutional Court with Veasceslav Platon, who was then convicted for money laundering. Allegedly, during this phone conversation, they discussed schemes linked to bank frauds. Already in 2015, the anti-corruption portal Moldova Curata denounced Mr Tanase's family for acquiring high-value real estate properties in Chisinau during his tenure on the Constitutional Court. On 19 March 2018, the President appointed Victoria Iftodi as a new Minister of Justice. The President stated that she fully meets the necessary integrity criteria and will promote the needed reforms in the justice sector.

Government reconfirms head of the Financial Intelligence Unit. Mr Vasile Sarko has been appointed as head of the Moldovan Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) after the changes introduced by the new Anti-Money Laundering Law. Mr Sarko has been head of the FIU under the direction of the National Anti-Corruption Centre since 2013. The FIU will now exercise its functions independently.

Director of Directorate of Police and Head of Security Department of Podgorica resign after escalation of the conflict among organized criminal groups. In just two days, on 30-31 March, 3 people were killed in the conflict between organised criminal groups in Montenegro. Both events, a bomb explosion and a shootout, took place during the day in public parts of Podgorica, and one of the victims was a civilian unrelated in any way to organised criminal groups. The conflict between the two groups has been ongoing since 2012 and so far has claimed over 20 lives. Following the latest developments, the Director of Directorate of Police and Head of Security Department of Podgorica submitted his resignation due to the worsened security situation in Montenegro.

The draft Law on prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism prepared for parliamentary procedure. The draft law, developed with expert assistance of the Council of Europe, was adopted by the Government and has been sent to Parliament.

18 officials and 9 institutions convicted in corruption crackdown in Morocco. The Court of Auditors has issued a judgment against 18 officials in 9 public institutions and state companies for budgetary and financial misconduct, as the country’s fight against corruption continues. The national society of transport and logistics (SNTL) features among the institutions convicted by the court.

Romanian ruling party chief under investigation in Brazil-report. The leader of Romania’s ruling Social Democrats and speaker of its lower house of parliament, Liviu Dragnea, is under investigation in Brazil on suspicion of money laundering, according to a Brazilian prosecutor. An online investigative reporting platform, Rise Project, quoted Brazilian federal prosecutor Carlos Wagner Barbosa Guimaraes as saying Brazilian authorities were investigating whether Dragnea and others had used ill-gotten funds to buy beach properties in the country through third parties. Asked about the report, Dragnea, who keeps a tight grip on his party and is seen as effectively in charge of Romania’s government, said it was false. Dragnea is currently on trial in Romania in an abuse of office case and is also under investigation in a separate case on suspicion of forming a criminal group to siphon off cash from state projects, some of them EU-funded.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called for continuation of fight against corruption. During his address to the Federal Assembly, President Putin pointed out that the public administration system must be reorganised and rebuilt based on the principle of effectiveness. According to him, in the next six years, almost all public services must become remotely accessible, and documents used by government structures must be digitised. The digitisation of the entire public administration system will boost transparency and help combat corruption.

Bribe taking in Russia triples in 2017. According to data provided by the National Anti-corruption Committee, the total amount of bribes in Russia in 2017 was 6.7 billion rubles. In comparison to 2016, when this amount was approximately 2.3 rubles, the number almost tripled. The Committee also compiled the ranking of the Russian regions based on the increase of level of corruption, with the Republics of Ingushetia and Karachay-Cherkessia and Bryansk region appearing at the top as the regions with the most significant growth of numbers of corruption-related crimes.

GRECO calls for more transparency and public accountability amongst parliamentarians, judges and prosecutors. In a new report, the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) says corruption has long been a serious pervasive problem in Russia. Whilst acknowledging some important legislative and policy steps, GRECO identifies a number of shortcomings and makes recommendations to the Russian authorities, such as boosting transparency of the legislative process and of the financial declarations by Members of Parliament (MPs), as well as introducing a code of ethics for them. The integrity of judges should be ensured and enhanced via a more transparent selection process, income declarations and limiting their immunity. More openness is also required in recruiting prosecutors and assigning cases to them.

Serbia has not implemented any of the recommendations on preventing corruption among parliamentarians, judges and prosecutors. Serbia has not implemented in a satisfactory manner any of the thirteen recommendations provided by the Council of Europe’s anti-corruption body GRECO to the country in July 2015. GRECO concludes that the overall very low level of compliance with the recommendations is "globally unsatisfactory". GRECO requests the Head of the Serbian delegation to provide a report on the progress in implementing all the pending recommendations as soon as possible, but at the latest by 31 October 2018.

Prime Minister Brnabic claims that the placement of Serbia on the FATF “black list” is politically motivated. According to Ms Brnabic, FATF prepared the report more than a year ago, when it identified "certain strategic shortcomings". In the meantime, Serbia has complied with 35 of the 40 recommendations of that body and has adopted six systemic laws against money laundering and terrorist financing before discussing and approving the FATF report. Ms Brnabic also added that the European Commission and the World Bank were opposed to the report. However, she claimed that the adoption of the report was insisted on by the representatives of the United States of America.

New Law in Serbia on the Organisation and Jurisdiction of Government Authorities in the Suppression of Organised Crime, Terrorism and Corruption takes effect. The Law was adopted in late 2016 by the Serbian parliament, but its implementation was delayed for over a year. The Law introduces several important changes including: a significant extension of the list of criminal offences; the establishment of special departments for suppressing corruption at the Ministry of Interior, public prosecutor’s offices and courts; and the establishment of special auxiliary units within the Anti-corruption Departments and the Organised Crime Departments. With the changes in place, the Law is expected to strike a big blow to high-level crime in Serbia.

Construction company implicated in highway money laundering scheme. According to the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) there are serious indications that more than 28mil euros have been laundered through the construction of the Demir Kapija-Smokvica section. Bearing in mind that the highway section is only 28 km, it turns out that each kilometer is "paved" with at least one laundered million. According to unofficial information, a number of people and three domestic firms that "worked" for the Greek company "Aktor" were involved in money laundering through a well-designed cash withdrawal scheme from the Greek subsidiary of the company. The Special Public Prosecutor’s Office opened a case under the same name as the company. Ten natural persons and four legal entities will be subjects of the investigation. So far, the SPPO has not asked for any special measures for the suspects.

Thirty people charged with terrorism offences. The Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime has filed charges against 30 people, including a former interior minister and several opposition lawmakers, for their alleged involvement in the storming of parliament by demonstrators on 27 April 2017. They face minimum jail sentences of 10 years if convicted. Among the suspects are five members of parliament. Four people have not been charged as they are on the run, even though earlier practice shows that in similar cases the defendants were tried in absence. Two other people were charged with complicity.

Tunisia is taking measures to address EU blacklisting. The Tunisian government is embarking on a series of measures to persuade the European Parliament to back down on its decision of 7 February to add Tunisia to the blacklist of countries at "high risk" of money laundering and terrorist financing.

Meeting on combating money laundering and terrorism financing between Governors of Central Banks of Libya, Algeria and Tunisia. The meeting was held in the framework of coordination between the neighbouring countries to discuss the means and methods of money laundering and terrorism financing as well as to exchange information and experience among the three countries, as well as coordination and cooperation.

Venice Commission criticizes Ukraine's bills on financial disclosure requirements for NGOs. Stringent financial reporting and disclosure requirements for NGOs and activists in Ukraine, coupled with severe sanctions, are likely to have a chilling effect on civil society and should be fully reconsidered, the Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR said in a joint opinion adopted on 16 March 2018. The opinion criticised the new draft laws on e-declarations for anti-corruption activists, saying that the new laws impose a regime of burdensome tax reporting and enhanced public disclosure of detailed financial information. The opinion makes several recommendations.

G7 urges Ukraine to cancel e-declarations for anti-graft activists. On 29 March 2018, the G7 group of countries urged Ukrainian authorities to cancel electronic asset declarations for anti-corruption activists and to provide an amnesty to those of them who fail to file declarations by the deadline. According to the amendments to the Law on Corruption Prevention, anti-corruption activists are obliged to submit an e-declaration of assets before 1 April 2018. “G7 ambassadors remain deeply concerned about the looming 1 April e-declaration filing deadline for international members of the supervisory boards of state-owned enterprises and anti-corruption activists,” the ambassadors said in a joint statement. “We strongly encourage members of the Verkhovna Rada to find a legislative solution at their next seating to cancel the requirements as recommended by the Venice Commission, or postpone their application.”

President Poroshenko fends off IMF demands for anti-corruption court. An attempt to have a say on judges infringes Ukraine’s sovereignty, the President says. Amid a stand-off over demands for Kyiv to set up an independent anti-corruption court that has delayed vital financing, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has warned that international donors cannot dictate laws to the country. “If anybody can imagine that foreign donors will form Ukrainian courts, this is against the constitution,” Mr Poroshenko said in an interview with the Financial Times. He pointed to a recent breakthrough as parliament passed his own, different bill on the anti-corruption court at first reading. Parliament could discuss amendments to the bill, he said: “I am absolutely happy if all our partners can … exchange arguments and find a definite compromise.”