site.btaEuropol Management Board Holds 107th Meeting in Sofia

Sofia, May 4 (BTA) - "The EU Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) has established itself as a motor force pooling and coordinating the efforts of national law enforcement authorities," Bulgarian Interior Minister Valentin Radev said, welcoming in the participants in the 107th meeting of the Europol Management Board that took place in Sofia on May 3 and 4, Radev's Ministry said in a press release on Friday.

Radev wished the agency's new Executive Director Catherine De Bolle success in achieving Europol's objectives and further strengthening the agency's capacity during her term in office.

For her part, De Bolle stressed that Europol's principal objective should remain to support Member States in addressing the ever more complicated and global threats related to crime and terrorism.

The Management Board considered strategic and corporate issues and adopted decisions concerning Europol's future activity in assisting Member States' efforts to suppress serious and organized crime and terrorism. An emphasis was also laid on cooperation with the Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group on Europol (JPSG). JPSG representatives attended the Management Board meeting for the first time.

Also on Friday, GERB Floor Leader and National Assembly Internal Security and Public Order Committee Chairman Tsvetan Tsvetanov conferred with De Bolle ahead of the 107th Management Board meeting.

The two discussed Bulgaria's good cooperation with the agency and the results of a JPSG meeting in Sofia in March, at which the Group updated its rules of procedure.

Tsvetanov and De Bolle concurred on the importance of Europol and the JPSG building relations of trust, so that the Group can assist the agency in its operation.