Today, May 26, 2021 the Deputy Prosecutor General of the Republic of Bulgaria Daniela Masheva opened an international conference “Protection of the Euro in Bulgaria and the Countries of South-Eastern Europe and the Balkan Region. Achievements and Challenges for Law Enforcement Authorities” which is organized under the project “General Supervision of Legality in Compliance with the Legislation in the State” financed by the European Commission under the Pericles 2020 Programme.
"Enhancing knowledge and awareness of colleagues about the work of neighboring countries and the powers and tools of European agencies - Eurojust, Europol, the European Central Bank, involved in the process of strengthening the protection of the euro, is one of the priorities of the Prosecutor's Office of Bulgaria (PORB) with a view to effectively counteracting the crimes related to counterfeiting of the euro", said Daniela Masheva, who welcomed the participants on behalf of the Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev. She emphasized that the current international conference is a logical result of long standing fruitful cooperation between the PORB and the European Commission (EC) in order to upgrade and strengthen relations in the field of euro protection. The Deputy Prosecutor General expressed her gratitude to the EC for the support provided over the years and for the opportunity provided by this project to upgrade the professional qualifications of Bulgarian law enforcement agencies.
Among the goals of the project "General Supervision of Legality in Compliance with the Legislation in the Country" is the establishment of a prosecutorial network between the countries of Southeast Europe and the Balkan region jointly with police and customs services for interaction and cooperation in investigation of crimes related to counterfeiting of euro banknotes and coins and related fraud.
Prosecutors from seven countries - the Republic of Northern Macedonia, the Republic of Turkey, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Croatia, the Republic of Slovenia and the Republic of Serbia, as well as representatives of European Commission, European Central Bank and Europol take part in the Conference in Sofia. On the Bulgarian side, representatives of the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Bulgaria, the Bulgarian National Bank, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Finance and State Agency for National Security participate in the event.
During the forum, which continues tomorrow, participants will exchange practices and experiences on the methods of investigating counterfeits of euro coins and banknotes and unfit for circulation euro coins, and will share specific expertise.