Corruption destroys a society, stops the economy and economic life, creates huge social problems because some irregularly acquire huge wealth and others sink into the abyss of poverty. Regardless of the size of the country, corruption is always and everywhere equally fatal, especially if there is no serious fight against it", says university professor Čedomir Čupić, member of the board of the Agency for the fight against corruption in the Republic of Serbia.
In an interview for "Vijesti", he spoke about the pernicious nature of corruption, how it should be fought, and how serious it will be as an obstacle for the Balkan countries on the European road.
What do you think about the arrests in Serbia?
What is being done is good and no one should remain untouchable when it comes to the fight against corruption. Especially not those who acquired enormous wealth in a period when it can be said that 99 percent of the population of Serbia was on the brink of existence and in some kind of poverty.
The question arises as to how it was possible to acquire enormous wealth in such circumstances. One must examine what kind of wealth it is. For these reasons, the fact that it started with those who are the richest, I think is a great encouragement.
Is that enough or does a serious fight need much more?
It is only one direction in the fight against corruption. The second is that what has been initiated now enters the framework of the institutions, that laws are passed, that severe punishments for corrupt acts are determined in the criminal legislation, that these punishments are not stretchable, but should be from eight to ten years or more.
It is very important that the institutions that will be the basis of that struggle be purified and trained to function well
It would be preventive so that people who decide to do it know what awaits them.
What about the property of those who obtained it illegally?
Also, in the fight against corruption, it is very important to confiscate the property of those who are caught in corrupt acts. It is very important that the institutions that will be the basis of that struggle be purified and trained to function well. It is extremely important that the processes do not last long, that they are efficient and that we have immediate results.
In this way, you introduce the fight against corruption into the system. Some individual or group that has this idea, especially when it comes to power, can be the initiator, but what initiates must enter the system to be incorporated into the regulations, for institutions to come to life, for good laws to be created.
Are corruption and organized crime in direct relation?
Any corrupt act is a criminal act. Any corruption is a type of crime. The word crime itself, which comes from Latin, has three meanings: non-compliance with norms, non-compliance with laws and regulations, and only in third place is crime.
Unfortunately, in the long history of the existence of this term, the two first meanings were lost. Corruption is dangerous because it infiltrates the system, individuals make laws that are selective or vague and they use it.
Is everything done according to the law legal, correct?
Corruption proves that all legality is not legality, that is, that what is done according to the laws is not necessarily good. Only what is legal is based on good laws and good institutions that enforce them. Why laws if they can be interpreted in different ways and according to one's needs. These are not laws, but usurpation.
In that context, you sometimes say that Nazism also acted according to certain laws.
Of course. And this just shows that you can make bad laws and declare something legal. However, it must not be accepted as legal.
Will corruption and organized crime be the biggest obstacle for the Balkan countries on the way to the EU?
This is a worldwide problem, but it is even more serious for countries that are undergoing changes - transition from one system to another. There, some wicked people take advantage of the situation and spread their network of corruption and crime. Certainly the developed world and the EU will not accept it. It would be a very dangerous virus for them. That is why the first condition for Serbia's entry into that story, if we skip over the political one related to the issue of Kosovo, is the fight against corruption. This is the first condition for all countries that want to join the EU.
If someone wants to join the EU, he must know that he must fulfill that condition to the end and clear up corruption
Will Europe rush us in this sense?
She will insist on a serious fight. If the countries waiting at her door are not rushed, then she will not receive them. If someone wants to enter that circle, he must know that he must fulfill that condition to the end and clear up corruption.
Something is happening in the entire region. Why is it only peaceful in Montenegro?
I assume that the moment when there is political will or when it is found that something can be started, that it will happen in Montenegro as well. I do not believe that any country will be spared from it. It's just that those who are corrupt know that they only function that way, and that cannot last long. Wherever corruption lingers, sometimes it has to stand in its way, because it stops development and creates serious problems, it creates social problems that are dangerous because people fall into poverty and that becomes dangerous.
Biography
Professor Čedomir Čupić was born in 1947 in Sivac, Vojvodina, where he finished elementary school. He finished high school in Sombor, and the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade, where he earned a master's degree and a doctorate.
He is a lecturer at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Belgrade, and has been a guest lecturer at the University of Montenegro and the University of Donja Gorica for years.
He is one of the founders and the first president of the Assembly of the Alternative Academic Educational Network (1998-1999).
He was a member of the Council of the Student Resistance Movement from 1998 to 2000, and from 2000 to 2003, a member of the Council of the People's Resistance Movement and the holder of the list in the 2003 elections of that movement. He was a member of the Council for the fight against corruption of the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the chairman of the Board of the Agency for the fight against corruption of the Republic of Serbia.
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