Law enforcement in Europe

MEPs reiterated on Monday (5 November) their call on EU ministers to take a swift and affirmative decision on the accession of Bulgaria and Romania as fully-fledged members to the Schengen area, reported EUreporter.co

Tsvetan Tsvetanov, the Deputy Chairperson of GERB (majority partner in the ruling coalition), has become a member of Europol Management Board. There he will represent the Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group of the Agency. Tsvetanov's election to this position was made with full consensus by the delegations of all national parliaments and the European Parliament.

A major police action involving 8,300 police from 28 countries and designed to curb crime orginating from the Balkans has resulted in almost half a million people, vehicles and premises being checked on the ground, Europol said on Friday.

The security department of Sofia International Airport on Thursday said it had fired one employee and sanctioned several others after they failed to perform security checks on a group of 40 Lebanese tourists on September 3. 

Media quoted the airport management as blaming a number of managers and supervisors for the blunder, who received administrative sanctions and official warnings.

German MEP Manfred Weber, who is endorsed by chancellor Angela Merkel to take over the presidency of the European Commission, has stated on Wednesday that the justice amendments are affecting not only Romania's bid to join Schengen area, but also the ones of Bulgaria and Croatia.

President Klaus Iohannis said on Wednesday he is "moderately optimistic" that Romania's justice legislation will withstand careful scrutiny by the European Commission.

The five parties in coalition talks plan to overhaul the systems of national security and adopt a new national security resolution. They intend to update the intelligence system and adopt an umbrella act on intelligence and security services.

DW - The European Commission is calling on EU countries to be more cautious when granting citizenships, according to an interview with Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova published in the German daily Die Welt on Tuesday.

Minister-delegate for European Affairs Victor Negrescu hails the coming into force as of August 1 of the (EU) Resolution 934/2018 of the Council regarding the implementation of the remaining provisions of the Schenghen acquis concerning the Schengen Information System in Bulgaria and Romania, informs a release of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) on Wednesday sent to AGERPRES.

Sofia. As of today, Bulgaria will refuse entry/stay in its territory to third-country nationals in respect of whom an alert for refusal of entry or stay has been issued in the Schengen Information System (SIS), said the Ministry of Interior press office.