Law enforcement in Europe

As Greek authorities struggle to host more than 60,000 migrants stranded in the country, the European Commission on Wednesday proposed the prolongation of border controls in the passport-free Schengen area for another three months as the bloc is still working on steps to deal with the migrant crisis.

A Turkish national was arrested by Greek police on the island of Kalymnos, Monday afternoon on a series of charges. The 38-year-old man, who had a pending Europol arrest warrant in Germany, is charged with fraud, theft and embezzelment. After searching his home in the presence of a judge, authorities discovered and confiscated small amounts of unprocessed cannabis.

Outgoing Bulgarian Interior Minister Rumyana Bachvarova said on Sunday she had "no information" when asked to comment on news that Turkish police had gracked down on a massive people smuggling ring.

Malta's rotating presidency of the council of the European Union will work towards an improvement of the access of Bulgaria to Schengen border systems for the exchange of information in spite of the existing problem with joining the Schengen area, announced Maltese Interior Minister Carmelo Abela in front of deputies from the legal committee of the European Parliament.

The Greek Police (ELAS) on Monday confirmed that it has sent a team to Brazil to be briefed by authorities there on the progress of an investigation into the murder of Greek Ambassador Kyriakos Amiridis.

A Turkish-EU deal on migrants is yielding positive results, the European Commission said on Dec. 8, but no progress was made on the issue of visa-free travel for Turks even though the process has been unblocked for Ukrainians and Georgians.

"Our comprehensive European approach on migration is showing positive results," European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans said.

The European Commission will table a non-binding proposal, Thursday, according to which illegal immigrants that have entered EU countries through Greece could be sent back to Greece. The Commission proposed the measure take effect from mid March, after it had judged that the screening, registration and asylum process in Greece had notably improved.

European police body Europol has published a self-styled "Advent calendar" which features a profile of sought persons for each day leading up to Christmas Eve.

Sergey Filipov Georgiev, a 55-year-old Bulgarian National, corresponds to "December 02".

A 39-year-old Anglo-Sudanese man arrested in Athens last week as part of a joint operation by Greek police and Europol was a member of an international forgery ring that was unraveled in May, authorities said on Wednesday.

Mohamed A., also known as Ageep, was nabbed after a stakeout by police outside a passport forgery workshop in Kypseli.

The European Commission on Wednesday called for the introduction of prior security checks for visa-free travellers entering the EU's passport-free Schengen zone in order to prevent potential terrorist threats.

If the proposal is approved, citizens of Balkan countries that do not need visas to travel to Western Europe will have to undergo online security checks.