Balkan Prosecutors General Meet in Sofia
![Justice Minister: Guaranteeing Democratic Society Requires Elimination of Corruption Pressure, Organized Crime]()
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Justice Minister Georgi Georgiev (far right) at the Fourth Forum of the Prosecutors General of the Balkan States in Sofia, October 6, 2025 (BTA Photo/Hristo Kassabov)
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site.btaJustice Minister: Guaranteeing Democratic Society Requires Elimination of Corruption Pressure, Organized Crime
At the opening of the Fourth Forum of the Prosecutors General of the Balkan States in Sofia on Monday, Justice Minister Georgi Georgiev said that guaranteeing democratic society requires elimination of corruption pressure and organized crime's activity. The forum was organized by the Bulgarian prosecution service and was attended by Bulgaria's Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov, acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov, and Eurojust President Michael Schmid.
"The problems we need to solve are not problems specific to any particular prosecution service office; they are problems and challenges facing the democratic functioning of our societies. In order to ensure and guarantee this, it is necessary to eliminate the pressure of corruption and the activities of organized crime, which, with new technologies and the single European space, are now reaching scales that pose a challenge to each country individually, so there is no need to deal alone with problems that we can handle together, as you have been doing in recent years within the framework of cooperation," Georgiev told the forum guests.
The Minister said that the Bulgarian State and Government have the firm will and determination to assist in the exchange of experience and the establishment of good practices, noting that the present times are full of challenges.
He noted that over the past eight months, Bulgarian institutions have carried out a “revolution in criminal law” in connection with the implementation of commitments to remove the country from the gray list for money laundering. Georgiev pointed out that reforms have been made to the concept and regulation of terrorism, expanding liability and providing adequate sanctioning mechanisms for legal entities involved in criminal activity, modernizing the criminal process with regard to crypto assets, and collecting electronic evidence.
The Fourth Forum brought together heads of prosecution services from Southeast Europe and EU partner institutions. It was initiated by the Chief Prosecutors of Bulgaria and Turkiye, with the first event held in Izmir in 2019. Sofia hosted the forum for the second time. The goal is to strengthen established partnerships and cooperation among Balkan prosecutors on criminal law matters, combating cross-border organized crime, illegal migration, and more.
Key topics at this year’s forum included counter-terrorism, drug trafficking, investigating crimes involving digital environments and cryptocurrencies, and enhancing cooperation with third countries to tackle transnational crime in the region.
/MY/
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