Montenegrin media this week published excerpts of a Europol report calling the country a major money laundering country and citing concern for its regulation of corrupt practices.
After the European Union General Affairs Council invited Europol to evaluate Montenegro on its organized crime situation, the police agency drafted an as-yet-unpublished report that was excerpted Monday in the daily newspaper "Dnevne Novine."
"Europol warns that Montenegro has a problem with money laundering for illegally gotten gains in the legal economy and jobs. We are still examining what and how much this acquired capital has to do with the national leadership and corrupt practices," stated the report, which noted that "under special scrutiny are the Russian tycoons whose business for years has been suspicious to European police."
The report noted that millions of illegally-earned euros have flowed from Russia to Montenegro, where they are invested in legal businesses such as hotels, Dnevni Novine said.
Speaking to Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe, a legal representative for the Montenegrin anti-corruption NGO MANS said: "the fact is that Montenegro is a transit area when it comes to drug trafficking, and there have been no results when it comes to the fight against organized crime and corruption. Ther are also serious reservations about the behavior of those state authorities of Montenegro who are required to combat corruption and organized crime. "
This leak of Europol's report comes just days after EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton visited Montenegro and offered praise to the nation's for its progress toward EU membership, citing it as an example for neighboring countries.