On 15 October 2010 the Europol Director Rob Wainwright visited the Center for the Study of Democracy to discuss the policies for countering organized crime in Bulgaria, the European response to the new challenges and the dual threat of corruption and organized crime.
During the visit Mr. Wainwright had a meeting with CSD Chairman Mr. Ognian Shentov and CSD Economic Program Director Mr. Ruslan Stefanov, who briefed him on CSD’s efforts to introduce organized crime threat assessment in Bulgaria: an initiative implemented in partnership with Europol and the Serious Organized Crime Agency (SOCA). An emphasis was placed on the importance of this instrument for the security sector reform in Bulgaria as well as for accomplishing practical results in countering organized crime.
Mr. Wainwright underlined the significance for the European Union of the HARMONY project initiated by the Belgian presidency, aimed at codifying the process of preparation and introduction of the Organized Crime Threat Assessment as a member-state policy instrument.
In this context, the Bulgarian approach in carrying out the Organized Crime Threat Assessment was also discussed, in particular the involvement of not only the respective state institutions but also of expertise from civil society organizations.
