EU en Oekraïense justitie akkoord over nauwere samenwerking (en)

On July 3 in Kiev, UKRAINE, as part of the agenda of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the EU, the Lithuanian Police, in cooperation with the Lithuanian Embassy in Ukraine, organized the meeting of EU Liaison Officers, accredited for Ukraine, and Ukrainian law enforcement representatives.

The general aim of the meeting was to discuss current crime trends and crime threats common for the EU and Ukraine, as well as for other Eastern Partners, and possible way forward to step-up closer law enforcement cooperation, in particular in the areas of fight against drugs, cyber crime and smuggling.

According to the Chief Counselor of the Lithuanian Police Mr. Alvydas Šakocius, who chaired the Meeting, the participants were unanimous in their views that enhanced mutual cooperation is needed to overcome the challenges in fighting crime. “It is essential to have a two-way cooperation, both from the EU and the Ukrainian side. Such approach would without a doubt provide for an easier exchange of valuable and current information”, said Mr. Šakocius after the Meeting.

The results of today’s discussions will serve as a solid basis for further elaborations during another Presidency event - international conference “Eastern Partnership Law Enforcement Cooperation: way forward” - to be organized by the Lithuanian Police, in cooperation with CEPOL, EUROPOL and other key-players, on September 17-19, 2013 in Vilnius, Lithuania. Also, it is planned to bring the issues identified during these two meetings for the attention of the Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs of the EU and the Eastern Partners during their Meeting in the margins of JHA Council in October this year in Luxembourg.