Europol

Five Greek and Georgian citizens have appeared in court on charges of belonging to a criminal organization that allegedly sold babies for adoption.

All five denied the charges before a Thessaloniki magistrate on Friday. The two Georgian nationals are accused of being the ringleaders.

More than 1000 militants  from EU member states participate in the ranks of the "Islamic state", 800 of them from the Western Balkans, became clear at the meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Control Group on the activities of Europol in Sofia. 

The government's new draft personal data protection law is highly problematic and open to abuse, according to Ak?n Ünver, an assistant professor at Kadir Has University and an executive and supervisory board member of the Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies (EDAM).

Albania dismantles massive drug network

Experts say that a police operation performed in co-operation with Germany demonstrates Albania's capacity to identify and lead major operations against organised crime groups.

Albanian police officers search a drug laboratory in the village of Xibrake, near Elbasan, on January 15th. [AFP]

The head of Europe's police organisation Europol said on Jan. 13 the continent was facing its greatest security threat in more than a decade, with as many as 5,000 Europeans who have joined fighting in Syria posing a risk to their homelands.