BTA :: Eurojust to Continue Supporting Judicial Authorities in EU and Beyond

Eurojust to Continue Supporting Judicial Authorities in EU and Beyond - Eurojust President

Tatiana Marinova, Konstantin Kostov

Eurojust President Michael Schmid addressing the Fourth Forum of the Prosecutors General of the Balkan States, Sofia, October 6, 2025 (BTA Photo/Hristo Kassabov)

Sofia ,

06.10.2025 14:28

(BTA)

Eurojust will continue to support judicial authorities both within and outside the European Union (EU), said Eurojust President Michael Schmid. He was speaking Monday at the opening of the Fourth Forum of the Prosecutors General of the Balkan States, hosted by Bulgaria for the second time.

Schmid emphasized that Eurojust’s core mission is to facilitate judicial cooperation in cross-border cases, noting that organized crime does not recognize national borders.

The Eurojust President pointed out that the topics to be discussed at the forum, including migrant smuggling, terrorism, drug trafficking, environmental crimes, and cryptocurrency-related offences, share a common need for cooperation. In his words, almost every case today has an international dimension, and the challenges faced by different countries are often similar.

Schmid underscored that regular cooperation requires a high level of mutual trust and a genuine sense of teamwork, which is why regional meetings like this one are so important. “From personal experience, I know there are countries where closer cooperation is needed simply because colleagues need to work together more frequently, often this applies to countries within the same region,” he said.

He noted that although Eurojust is an EU agency, it welcomes liaison prosecutors from non-EU countries as well. A special project for the Western Balkans is also in place, supporting joint investigations both among the six regional partner countries and between them and EU Member States. So far, Eurojust has supported over 40 major criminal investigations under this project.

The Fourth Forum of the Prosecutors General of the Balkan States brings together the heads of prosecution services from Southeast European countries and partner institutions from the EU at the highest level. The forum is held at the initiative of the Prosecutors General of the Republic of Bulgaria and the Republic of Turkiye. The first edition took place in 2019 in Izmir. Sofia is hosting the forum for the second time, with the aim of maintaining strong partnerships and cooperation between the Balkan prosecution services on criminal justice issues, the fight against cross-border organized crime, illegal migration, and more.

/DS/