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Prosecutor’s Office of Bulgaria nominated as new host of OSCE-supported Secretariat of Permanent Conference of Organized Crime Prosecutors

The Prosecutor’s Office of Bulgaria is the new host of the Secretariat of the Permanent Conference of Organized Crime Prosecutors. The decision was reached on 6 December at the seventh network meeting, organized with the support of the OSCE.

Issued on:
Issued by:
OSCE Secretariat
Fields of work:
Policing

The Prosecutor’s Office of Bulgaria is the new host of the Secretariat of the Permanent Conference of Organized Crime Prosecutors. The decision was reached on 6 December at the seventh network meeting, organized with the support of the OSCE. Bulgaria will take over the role from the Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime of Serbia.

Over the past five years, this regional co-operation platform has been instrumental in enhancing regional co-operation and informal exchange of information in fighting organized crime and corruption. The network continued to be operational despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and has ensured continuity of its activities using an adapted online format.

While the network has expanded during the years and currently includes prosecutor’s offices from twelve countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Montenegro, the Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia), further expansion remains very high on its agenda.

Denise Mazzolani, Acting Head of the OSCE’s Strategic Police Matters Unit, and Iris Pilika, Programme Officer, Economic Co-operation and Governance, reiterated the OSCE’s continued support to the network and its mission to enhance informal cross-border co-operation in criminal matters. The establishment of the network is based on provisions provided by the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.

OSCE supports the Permanent Conference of Organized Crime Prosecutors in the framework of the regional project “Strengthening the fight against transnational organized crime in South-Eastern Europe through improved regional co-operation in asset seizure, confiscation, management and re-use”, jointly implemented by the Transnational Threats Department and the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities. The project is financially supported by the United States, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom.