Tag: Organised Crime

The European Commission on Wednesday (31 October) threatened to publish an extraordinary monitoring report on Bulgaria's ailing judicial system, hours after lawmakers in Sofia appointed a controversial figure to the country’s Constitutional Court despite EU warnings.

EU foreign affairs ministers decided yesterday (26 June) to open accession negotiations with Montenegro on Friday, coinciding with the Union's leadership summit.

A municipal counsellor with ties to the Albanian government has been detained in his country under an Italian arrest warrant for drug-related convictions, the website Le Courrier des Balkans reports.

The Commission unveiled yesterday (8 February) its latest reports on the progress of Romania and Bulgaria in stepping up law enforcement and the fight against corruption. The EU executive also called on civil society to help accelerate reforms in the two countries.

Fraudulent pesticides that account for up to 25% of supplies in some European countries are threatening farmers, land and produce, warns the European Union law enforcement agency Europol.

The two largest opposition parties in Bulgaria filed a no-confidence motion against the minority centre-right government yesterday (13 July), slamming the prime minister for failing to join the EU's Schengen passport-free zone and for what they described as a law enforcement fiasco. Dnevnik, EurActiv's partner in Bulgaria, reports.

Romanian President Traian Basescu lashed out at a decision by France and Germany yesterday (21 December) to postpone his country’s accession to the EU's border-free Schengen area, describing it as an act of "discrimination". The EurActiv network reports from Bucharest and Sofia.

Corruption weighs heavily on peoples' minds in the Western Balkans and the general perception in the region is that it is increasing in both the public and private sectors, observed speakers at an event hosted by Gallup House yesterday (10 May).

Crime levels in Albania are low even by EU standards, as an unprecedented international crackdown on organised crime has taken place in cooperation with Western European countries, Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha told EurActiv in an exclusive interview.

Belgium and Sweden are swiftly returning ethnic Albanian and Roma asylum seekers to their countries of origin, hoping to avert an influx triggered by the recent removal of the visa requirement for Serbian and Macedonian nationals.

Just days before the European Commission presents a report on Bulgaria's progress in overcoming justice and home affairs shortcomings, the country's interior minister yesterday (28 January) presented his services' achievements and ambitions for the wider regional context.

The leaders of Bulgaria and Romania have accepted criticism of the two countries' performances in meeting EU standards on judicial reform and fight against corruption as fair. But financial sanctions amounting to hundreds of thousands of euro were hard to swallow in Sofia.

Bulgaria is scaling up its fight against corruption and organised crime with the first sentences now effective, Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivaylo Kalfin told EurActiv in an interview, also highlighting his country's difficulties in communicating a more positive image of itself.

Kosovars can "no longer plead ignorance" over the extent of mafia crime in the country, writes Krenar Gashi of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN).

As Eurojust, the European Union's Judicial Co-operation Unit, celebrated its fifth birthday, Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini presented his vision of how to strengthen the body's legal structure. 

The European Crime and Safety Survey (EU ICS), the most comprehensive analysis of crime, security and safety ever conducted in the EU, was presented in Brussels this week. While positive findings include a fall in overall crime, member state 'hotspots' still prevail.

Questioned by the Parliament on the EU action against forced prostitution during major sport events, Justice Commissioner Frattini said that an EU-wide hotline for victims of forced prostitution is under consideration.

The Austrian presidency is pressing Bulgaria to make further efforts to fight organised crime. Commissioner Rehn shares the presidency's worries.

The fight against terrorism must be global and multilateral, says EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini, announcing a Commission initiative on the international dimension of security.

Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini has emphasised that respect for fundamental rights will be at the heart of the Commission's freedom, security and justice programme.

The issue of organised crime has, since the 2004 Madrid bombings and the 2005 London attacks, taken a back seat to the overriding priority of the fight against terrorism. However, drugs and human trafficking are still policy priorities.

On 20-21 November 2003, Dublin is hosting the first European Congress on developing public/private partnerships to tackle organised crime.