Interior ministers and other officials from Slovenia, Austria, Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Italy, Hungary, Macedonia, Romania and Serbia-Montenegro also said in their joint statement that the approach should be tailored to individual countries and regions, and pledged technical assistance to help countries in SE Europe enforce EU standards in the field.

The participants agreed that common goals in the management of migration flows and the prevention of accompanying crime can only be achieved with the introduction of uniform standards and intensive bilateral co-operation between countries in the region.

Statistical data for this year indicate that improvements in co-operation on the regional and EU levels have already yielded first results, since the participating countries recorded decreases in the number of illegal border crossings and organised crime activities. The host of the meeting, Interior Minister Rado Bohinc, stressed that statistical data show a decrease in criminal activities from SE Europe through Slovenia and into Western Europe, most notably trafficking in stolen vehicles, illicit drugs and weapons.

The conference also discussed the establishment of a border-control agency and police co-operation in the return of illegal immigrants.

A day before the conference, Minister Bohinc met with his Italian and Austrian counterparts, Giuseppe Pisanu and Ernst Strasser, for talks that focused on the simplification of border control in the run-up to Slovenia's EU entry in May 2004. A commission of experts is due to meet shortly to elaborate the details of the project. Its main goal is to introduce uniform enforcement, carried out jointly by the neighbouring countries, consequently reducing costs while upgrading information channels and communication.

Strasser and Bohinc meanwhile signed an accord on bilateral police co-operation in areas ranging from criminal investigations to the maintenance of law and order. STA