4.5 Mission to Serbia On 21 November, the Mission supported the National Antimoney Laundering Directorate to organize a dialogue event with the civil society on the risks of financing terrorism related to the non-profit sector. The event enhanced understanding of the possible connection between non-profit organizations and the financing of terrorism, as well as finding adequate ways to regulate this issue in line with the best democratic practices. Representatives of the Anti-money Laundering Directorate and the Government’s Office for Cooperation with Civil Society announced additional information sharing with the wider civil society sector at the local level. From 11 to 15 December, the Mission and the MoI organized a ToT course on P/C VERLT. Two expert MoI trainers delivered the training to seven members of the MoI’s Uniformed Police and the Service for Countering Terrorism and Extremism. They discussed various P/C VERLT-related aspects including responsibilities of community police officers in P/C VERLT. Illicit Drugs and Chemical Precursors From 13 to 17 November, the Mission, in partnership with Serbia’s MoI, supported an intensive training course in Moscow on countering online drug trafficking. Eight members of Serbia’s MoI Service for Combating Organised Crime and the Service for the Prevention of Drug Addiction and Suppression of Drug Trafficking were trained alongside the Russian specialized operative services, as well as police officers from Afghanistan and Tajikistan. They gained knowledge about specific measures used in investigating drug trafficking taking place on the Internet. On 21 and 22 November, the Mission, in co-operation with UNODC and the MoI, organized the Paris Pact Expert Working Group Meeting in Belgrade on Illicit Financial Flows deriving from the trafficking of opiates originating from Afghanistan. One hundred experts including members of the Serbian MoI, the Ministry of Justice, and the customs administration shared experiences and discussed current and future activities aimed to disrupt illicit financial flows from the sale of opiates derived from Afghanistan. Trafficking in Human Beings & Migration-related Crime On 13 February, the Head of OSCE Mission to Serbia and the Austrian 2017 OSCE CiO officially donated Serbia’s Task Force on Combatting Human Smuggling with two offroad vehicles and IT equipment. They were joined by the Serbian Minister of Interior and State Public Prosecutor. The donation ceremony took place during a two-day regional meeting organized by the Mission and the Serbian State Prosecutor’s Office and the MoI for prosecutors and police investigators from Bulgaria, Croatia and Serbia, which addressed prosecuting organized crime groups involved in 86 smuggling of migrants. The Head of Mission acknowledged the efforts of the Task Force in combating smuggling and expressed the Mission’s commitment to support local and regional efforts to counter the exploitation of vulnerable asylum seekers and migrants by organized crime groups. The purpose of this event was to strengthen regional co-operation in fighting organized crime groups involved in the smuggling of migrants. On 13 and 14 February, the Mission, jointly with the Serbian Republic Public Prosecutor’s Office and the MoI, organized an operational regional meeting among prosecutors and police investigators in charge of investigating and prosecuting organized crime groups dealing with smuggling of migrants. Some 15 prosecutors and police investigators from Bulgaria, Croatia and Serbia met to learn about their respective activities, discuss ongoing cases of human smuggling committed by organized criminal groups or criminal groups on the Balkan route, and to exchange operational intelligence and information. The activity represents a part of the Mission’s wider efforts to assist the police and prosecution in enhancing their capacity to combat migration related crime. From 23 to 24 March, the Mission hosted a visit of the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings (SR/CTHB). The field visit was intended to raise awareness on trafficking risks and specific vulnerabilities arising from large migratory flows and empower first responders in identifying and protecting possible THB victims in migration flows. The Mission facilitated a number of meetings with representatives of the Serbian government, civil society organizations and relevant international organizations. The SR/CTHB also met with representatives of the MoI’s Border Police Directorate and with the representatives of the Serbian Task Force on Combating Human Smuggling. From 24 March and 22 April, the Mission prepared an update to the internal report on security threats posed by the current migrant situation in Serbia. The report in question was produced in December 2016. From 15 to 19 May, the Mission supported two represen­ tatives from the MoI’s Service for Combatting Organized Crime and the Task Force on Combating Human Smuggling to participate in the Joint Action Day in Vienna, focusing on THB for the purpose of forced labour. The Austrian Federal Police organized the event within the EU EMPACT 2017 (European Multidisciplinary Platform against Criminal Threats).