Acting Prosecutor General of the Republic of Bulgaria Borislav Sarafov proposed the establishment of a Permanent Balkan Prosecutor’s Platform for communication, exchange of experience in sensitive areas such as corruption, human trafficking, cybercrime, environment, etc. This took place in the framework of the Fourth Forum of the Prosecutors General of the Balkan States, which is taking place in Sofia.
The forum was opened by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria Rosen Zhelyazkov.
The event will be attended by the Prosecutor General of Turkey Muhsin Şentürk, the Prosecutor General of Slovenia Katarina Bergant, the Prosecutor General of Albania Olsian Çela, the Acting Prosecutor General of Kosovo Besim Kelmendi, as well as delegations of Prosecutors General from Romania, Serbia and Montenegro.
Special guest of the event is the President of Eurojust Michael Schmidt.
The Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, Michael McGrath, delivered a video greeting from Brussels to the participants in the forum in Sofia.
The event was also attended by Roel Dona, Secretary General of the International Association of Prosecutors.
Among the guests at the forum are also the Minister of Justice Georgi Georgiev, the Chairperson of the Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs Anna Aleksandrova, members of the SJC, prosecutors and investigators.
We publish the full text of the address of Acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov at the opening of the Fourth Forum of the Prosecutors General of the Balkan States:
Let me welcome you most warmly to Sofia - the heart of the Balkan Peninsula, but also the heart of a united vision of cooperation, legitimacy and institutional partnership. It is a great honour and privilege for me to welcome you to the Fourth Forum of the Prosecutors General of the Balkan Countries, hosted for the second time in our capital Sofia.
I personally attended six years ago in the Turkish city of Izmir, where we launched our joint regional cooperation. This is an initiative that has shown its definite necessity and perspective in view of the dynamics of the European and global processes. The geopolitical challenges in the region and especially the rapid development of high technology following the pandemic make the need for active interaction between law enforcement and law enforcement agencies even greater. There is no doubt that cross-border connectivity and, in particular, the use of technological advances by international organised criminal and terrorist groups require timely and coordinated action by our institutions, which requires cooperation at the highest level. The opportunity to consolidate lasting and direct cooperation between us, the heads of the prosecutor's offices in the region, are the key steps to ensure guarantees for security, justice and the rule of law in our common home - the Balkans.
Dear colleagues, we gather at a time that requires not only individual professionalism, but also teamwork. Because the challenges we face are not diminishing - on the contrary, they are transforming and becoming more complex, which is why they need adequate, modern and, above all, coordinated solutions.
The prosecutor's office in any country is the backbone of the rule of law. In Bulgaria, the prosecutor’s office plays a key role not only in criminal justice but also in protecting the public interest. Where a prosecutor’s office is weak, crime and corruption become state policy. That is why our task today is to strengthen the prosecutor's office as an independent and professional institution that works in the interest of the citizens.
What are the current challenges in our region? Organised crime no longer has a nationality, it has a clear and definite cross-border character. We are seeing more and more investigations related to drug trafficking, cigarette smuggling, money laundering and cybercrime. In many of these cases, Balkan criminal networks are found to be connected, which clearly shows that crime knows no borders. That is why cooperation between us is key, because these crimes do not affect an individual country, they affect the whole region - they affect our common home. Joint investigations, prompt legal assistance and effective witness protection are needed.
Just for example, I will point out that in Bulgaria over the last two years there has been a 300% increase in the number of cybercrime cases investigated. This includes:
- Phishing campaigns;
- Cryptocurrency fraud and investment schemes;
- Online sexual exploitation of minors.
The Prosecutor's Office is actively partnering with Eurojust, but it is high time to create a Balkan network of prosecutors specialised in gathering electronic evidence to share data, best practices and operational information in real time.
At the same time, corruption remains a systemic problem in the region. Only with strong anti-corruption prosecutor's office units, modern legislation, but also with the necessary public support, we can show that the fight against corruption is a priority, not a naked political slogan.
Before you, colleagues, I would like to say that the Bulgarian Prosecutor's Office has introduced a special electronic register of anti-corruption cases, accessible to the institutions and the public, which allows better accountability and traceability of the processes.
Dear colleagues, I sincerely believe that the cooperation between our prosecutor's offices should not be merely declarative. I therefore propose the following concrete steps:
✅ 1. Establish a Permanent Balkan Prosecutors' Platform - with at least two meetings per year and a technical team to maintain communication.
✅ 2. Initiative for exchange of experience between prosecutor's offices - especially in the following sensitive areas: corruption, human trafficking, cybercrime, environmental protection..
✅ 3. Conducting joint training - with mixed prosecutor's teams working on hypothetical but realistic cases.
✅ 4. A mandatory step is also the joint elaboration of concrete proposals to update and harmonise legislation in the countries of the region. I consider this to be particularly important, including in view of the new forms of criminal activity and the need for cooperation.
Dear Colleagues,
The prosecutor's office is indeed the heart of the rule of law. That is why we are obliged to keep it healthy, independent and active. The Balkans today are not a place of tension and confrontation, on the contrary - our common home is secure and in it the law alone is supreme master. We can and must be a model of cooperation and common will for justice.
It is in this sense that I would like to highlight the extremely good cooperation between the Bulgarian and Turkish prosecutor's office, which is due to the personal merit of the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Turkey, Mr Muhsin Şentürk - a cooperation that already has its European dimension, especially after the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen area.
I am glad that today we have with us the new President of the European Agency for Cooperation in Criminal Justice (Eurojust) - Mr Michael Schmidt, which further demonstrates the importance of the Balkan Prosecutors General' Forum as a platform for operational interaction between law enforcement institutions.
In this regard, in a moment I will have the pleasure to announce the video address to the participants in the Fourth Forum of Prosecutors General by the European Commissioner for Justice, Mr Michael McGrath.
Ensuring peace and successful development of the region requires strong authorities and independent institutions. The judiciary is a key pillar of statehood everywhere in the world. All of us public prosecutors are the natural protectors of the public interest. The public prosecutor is an advocate for citizens in the defence of public rights and security. This requires the provision of lasting legal guarantees for the independence of magistrates, something that our guest - the Secretary General of the International Association of Prosecutors, Mr Roel Dona, knows best.
At the end of my address, allow me to express my special thanks to our fellow lawyer - the Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria, Mr. Rosen Zhelyazkov, who with his presence today underlines the importance of the Forum of Balkan Prosecutors General. It is a great honour for me to have him with us and therefore I give him the floor to address all of you - dear colleagues, guests and media representatives.