Europol and European Commission lead new project to target organised  crime in EU Eastern Neighbourhood

ArmInfo. A new Europol-led project, funded by the European Commission will focus on strengthening the capacity of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia,  Moldova and Ukraine to fight organised crime more effectively. The  project will contribute to reducing crime and creating a safer living  space for citizens in the region, the press service of EU informs.

Catherine De Bolle, Executive Director of Europol, highlighted that:  'This initiative is an important step in developing strong  operational cooperation and trust between the law enforcement  authorities of the EU Member States and our Eastern partners. Our  aligned efforts will bring a stronger response to the common  challenges and cross-border threats we face. Working together is  crucial to connect the dots between criminal networks in the EU and  the neighbourhood region. Europol's central place in European law  enforcement architecture enables us to lead this project effectively  and facilitate cooperation in the region'. 

Lawrence Meredith, Director for Neighbourhood East, European  Commission, stated:  "Organised crime networks operate across  national borders and destabilise the entire region.  Tackling serious  and organised crime is a shared challenge by the European Union and  its partner countries. By strengthening the strategic and operational  cooperation between Europol and partner countries, we are proud to  contribute to joint investigation successes."

Located along the Black Sea and forming part of the 'heroin route'  from the Middle East to Europe, all six Eastern Partnership countries  are threatened by organised criminal groups active in the area. These  groups are involved in migrant smuggling, organised property crime,  trafficking in human beings, firearms and drug trafficking, money  laundering, and other related crimes such as document fraud. These  criminal syndicates threaten not only the safety and security of  people, but also the stability of the Eastern Partnership region and  of the whole EU. More cooperation between law enforcement authorities  of EU Member States and the Eastern Neighbourhood countries is  crucial to improving the effectiveness of the common response to  organised crime across borders.

Eastern Partnership countries to join operations against criminal  groups in the EU Through this four-year-long initiative, Europol will  support the cooperation between involved law enforcement authorities  both on a strategic and operational level. Special funding will  enable the Eastern Partnership countries to participate in  operational activities against some of the ten most significant  threats to the EU security listed under the EU Policy Cycle. Eastern  Partnership countries will potentially be able to take part in  operations in the framework of the annually updated EMPACT action  plans, which target criminal groups active in the ten priority crime  areas for the EU. Existing networks for information sharing and  operational cooperation may be further extended into joint  investigations to improve the effectiveness in fighting transnational  organised crime.   

As part of a larger ?10 million EU cooperation initiative, the EU has  dedicated ?2.5 million to support the project that will run for the  next four years. Two other components are focused on law enforcement  training and threat assessment (a project led by Cepol with the  participation of Europol) and on criminal asset recovery (managed by  the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute  - UNICRI).

As described in the European Union's Communication on the Eastern  Partnership policy beyond 2020 the fight against organised crime is  an important priority for the EU and its partner countries going  forward. A Partnership that protects will strive to create a safer  environment for citizens in the EaP countries and the EU, based on  the rule of law and mutual cooperation between law enforcement  agencies.