Law enforcement in Europe

The Bulgarian authorities are stopping access to people on the territory of the country if they were banned from entering the Schengen area from 1 August, the Ministry of Interior announced on Friday.

On 9 and 10 July 2018, Europol's Internet Referral Unit (EU IRU) organised the tenth joint Referral Action Days with colleagues from specialized units from Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. This time the campaign was focused on different platforms belonging to Google and was attended by representatives of the company.

The Netherlands and France hinder Bulgaria's entry into the Schengen zone, Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva said in an interview with the Russian newspaper Izvestia, quoted by the Bulgarian National Radio.

Slovenia's outgoing Prime Minister Miro Cerar said this on Tuesday, as the exercise went ahead despite Slovenia's objections.

The Pro Borders drill saw Austrian police and army demonstrate emergency measures aimed at preventing illegal migrations.

On 21-22 June 2018 Sofia hosted the 20th high level meeting of the Coordination and Cooperation Mechanism on Drugs of the European Union and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (EU - CELAC).

Europol's latest report on the terrorist threat in the EU says one of main threats to the countries of the Western Balkans is the return home of foreign terrorist fighters, FTFs.

On 20 June 2018, EU ambassadors confirmed an agreement reached on 19 June between the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council and the Parliament on rules amending the regulation on Eurojust, the European Union agency for criminal justice cooperation. The regulation establishes a new governance model with the aim of improving the operational effectiveness of the agency.

On 19 June 2018, EU ambassadors endorsed, on behalf of the Council, a mandate for negotiations on a proposal amending the Schengen border code as regards temporary reintroduction of controls at internal borders. On the basis of this mandate, the Council Presidency will start negotiations with the European Parliament once the latter has adopted its position.

Minister-delegate for European Affairs Victor Negrescu stated that Romania's integration in the Schengen Area is a right, a release of the Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) informs.

Interior Minister Carmen Dan met on Friday, on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting of the Salzburg Forum (SF), with executive director of Europol Catherine de Bolle. The discussions focused on Romania's contribution to the functioning of this European agency.