VIENNA, 5 December 2025 — OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Vice-President and Special Representative on Combating Organized Crime Eugenio Zoffili (Italy) addressed today’s Ministerial Council side event “Strengthening Co-operation in Countering Transnational Organized Crime: Implementing the Tirana Declaration.”
Eugenio Zoffili at the OSCE Ministerial side-event, Vienna, 5 December 2025Speaking on the fifth anniversary of the Tirana Declaration (OSCE Ministerial Council Declaration on Strengthening Co-operation in Countering Transnational Organized Crime, 4 December 2020), Vice-President Zoffili stressed that transnational organized crime remains a profound threat to citizens’ safety, democratic institutions, and regional security. He underlined the OSCE PA’s comprehensive approach to tackling serious and organized crime, noting that it includes “curbing drug trafficking as the main lifeline of criminal groups, addressing corruption as a key enabler of illegal networks, reinforcing the rule of law as a foundation of security, and supporting prevention efforts, including countering youth radicalization to violence.”
Highlighting the essential role of legislative bodies, Zoffili emphasized that parliamentary engagement is indispensable to an effective and coordinated response across the OSCE region. “As Special Representative on Combating Organized Crime, I have seen how stronger parliamentary engagement can build political momentum for action, close legal gaps, sharpen strategic oversight, and support coherent approaches,” he said.
Zoffili also called for renewed political commitment and closer co-operation among states, institutions, and civil society, inviting delegations to the 2nd Parliamentary Legality Forum, which he will host in Rome in May 2026.
“The fight against organized crime requires unity of purpose,” he concluded. “The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly stands ready to support participating States in building the broad coalitions this challenge demands.”
For more information on the work of the Special Representative on Combating Organized Crime, please click here.
