Rob Wainwright

"Up to 5,000 EU citizens joined Islamic State"

LONDON -- Europol Director Rob Wainwright has said that the continent is facing its "greatest security threat in more than a decade."

This is because "as many as 5,000 EU citizens have joined fighting in Syria" and could pose a risk to their homelands if they return, Reuters reported.

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.
   

Bulgaria is drafting legislative changes to make it a crime for holders of its passports to fight alongside Islamic State (IS) or other terrorist organisations, Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov said on Thursday.

Bulgaria is only a transit country for combatants of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organisation the European counter-terrorism coordinator Gilles de Kerchoves and Europol head Rob Wainwright said in European Parliament.

The Director of Europol, Rob Wainwright, has praised the work of the Bulgarian authorities on the investigation of the 2012 Burgas bus bombing.

The terror attack at the Sarafovo airport and the cooperation between Bulgaria and Europol were the main topics of the talks between Wainwright and the Bulgarian authorities, according to reports of news.bg.

Robert (Rob) Wainwright, Director of Europol, the European law enforcement agency, is on a one-day working visit to Sofia, Friday.

Wainwright will meet with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Tsvetlin Yovchev, Vladimir Pisanchev, the head of the State Agency for National Security (DANS), and the Chief Prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov.