site.btaFourth Forum of Balkan Prosecutors General Outlines Future Priorities

The participants in the Fourth Forum of Balkan Prosecutors General, hosted in Sofia, in a final statement agreed to prioritize the establishment of a permanent Balkan prosecutors' platform, which will convene at least twice a year.

They also defined the goals of the platform: to strengthen judicial cooperation in combating cross-border crime; exchange of experience in sensitive areas such as human trafficking, corruption, cybercrime, environmental protection, and others; conduct training sessions with mixed prosecutorial teams on current cases; effective cooperation in the fight against illegal migration, organized crime, and misuse of cryptocurrencies; modernization and harmonization of legislation in the region to reflect new and evolving forms of criminal activity; real-time information sharing, joint investigations, and legal assistance to ensure security, stability, and justice in the Balkans, as well as building trust between partner services and independent judicial systems.

The Fourth Forum of Chief Prosecutors of the Balkan States was attended by Bulgaria’s acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov, Prosecutor General of Turkiye's Supreme Court of Appeal, Prosecutor Muhsin Senturk, Slovenia’s State Prosecutor General Katarina Bergant, Albania’s General Prosecutor Olsian Cela and Kosovo acting Chief State Prosecutor Besim Kelmendi. Delegations from the Supreme Prosecutors' Offices of Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro also took part in the forum.

From Brussels, Michael McGrath, European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, Rule of Law, and Consumer Protection, addressed the forum via a video message.

Among the guests at the event were Eurojust President Michael Schmid, Roel Dona, Secretary General of the International Association of Prosecutors, Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov, Justice Minister Georgi Georgiev, representatives of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), the leadership of the Association of Prosecutors in Bulgaria and the Chamber of Investigators in Bulgaria.

On the sidelines of the forum, Bulgaria’s acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov held working meetings with Eurojust President Michael Schmid and Roel Dona, the Secretary General of the International Association of Prosecutors (IAP).

Schmid said that in Sofia he discussed prospects for concluding agreements between Eurojust and the countries of the Western Balkans and Turkiye. He highlighted the need to deepen cooperation among prosecution services and courts across the region, despite political differences. The head of the EU Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation thanked Sarafov for the opportunity to participate in the high-level forum, which Bulgaria is hosting for the second time. 

During his meeting with Sarafov, the IAP Secretary General underscored the important and strategic role played by the Bulgarian prosecution service and its investigative authorities in maintaining stability and security in the Balkan region. He also highlighted the good and active cooperation with the Bulgarian Association of Prosecutors, which is part of the International Association of Prosecutors.

Dona highlighted the need to strengthen the independence of prosecutors worldwide. Similarly to judges, he added, prosecutors in every country should have robust safeguards in place to protect the impartiality of their judgements.