APPENDIX 3
Memorandum submitted by the Home Affairs
Section, Bulgarian Embassy
THE BILATERAL CO-OPERATION BETWEEN BULGARIA
AND THE UNITED KINGDOM IN THE AREA OF JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS
AFTER THE ACCESSION OF BULGARIA TO THE EU
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Bulgaria and the United Kingdom have close relations
and dynamic bilateral co-operation in virtually all spheres of
justice and home affairs. There are no open questions or problematic
areas between them. Bulgaria and the UK work together in countering
the new threats of international terrorism, organised crime and
illegal migration, both bilaterally and within the EU. There is
no evidence of criminal pressure created by Bulgarian nationals
on the territory of the UK. This fact has been officially admitted
by two consecutive Home Secretaries in April 2006 and April 2007
respectively.
1. In July 2005 the Ministry of Interior
(the Home Office) of the Republic of Bulgaria posted me as official
representative at the Bulgarian Embassy in London, sometimes referred
as "Police Attaché". My remit covers bilateral
and multilateral police co-operation, data and intelligence exchange,
advice on national legislation, promotion and coordination of
police-related projects and training. In addition, I am support
the Embassy's work related to the EU policies in the field of
justice, freedom and security.
2. The Bulgarian and the UK law enforcement
authorities maintain close operational contacts and collaboration,
directly or through their liaison officers posted in Sofia and
London. In the last couple of years there were several joint operations
against international criminal networks involved in drugs trafficking
and smuggling of illegal migrants. Due to its strategic geographic
location on the traditional drugs and migration routes, Bulgaria
faces the same challenges as the other transit countries in Europe.
As a result of its commitment and the assistance of its EU partners,
the recent criminal intelligence shows a trend of avoiding the
territory of Bulgaria by some of the traffickers. It is worth
mentioning that though there are Bulgarian nationals involved
in international drugs trafficking networks, there is no data
available so far of a Bulgarian criminal group supplying drugs
directly to the UK or selling them on its territory.
3. The Bulgarian Embassy in London is aware
of only one case of human trafficking for sexual exploitation
on the territory of the UK involving Bulgarian nationals in the
last two years. The investigation, conducted in close cooperation
between the UK and Bulgarian police and judicial authorities,
has not found any evidence linking the case to a wider criminal
network. In addition, the Operation Pentameter I did not identified
any Bulgarian victims or traffickers.
4. The number of prisoners in British prisons
is an important and objective indicator of the level of criminal
activities of foreign nationals. According to the statistics provided
by the Home Office as written ministerial answer to the House
of Commons, in March 2007 the number of the Bulgarian prisoners
in the prisons of England and Wales was in the lowest category
of "Less than 50 prisoners".
5. The UK law enforcement agencies provide
valuable assistance and share their experience with their Bulgarian
colleagues in a number of areas:
— combating terrorism: the Counter
Terrorism Command within the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS)
strongly supported the entry of Bulgaria as member of the Police
Working Group on Terrorism (PWGT)—one of the most effective
European police organisations for practical cooperation in this
field;
— investigation of murder cases: the
MPS Homicide and Serious Crime Command shared their best practices
and exchanged officers with the Bulgarian Criminal Police;
— assets recovery: the UK assisted
in drafting the relevant Bulgarian legislation;
— information and communication security:
twinning project;
— tackling internal corruption in the
Police: twinning project (completed);
— border security: the UK BIA provided
technical equipment and advice on combating forgery of travel
documents;
— online crime reporting, etc.
6. In the beginning of January 2007, a senior
Bulgarian border police officer was seconded, together with a
Romanian officer, at Heathrow airport. His task was to provide
advice and support to the UK Immigration Officers about Bulgarian
documentation following accession. According to the BIA (then
IND), this exercise was very successful. A great deal of information
on the abuse of European documents was exchanged. Furthermore,
the Bulgarian officer played a leading role in the detection of
a third country national trying to enter illegally the UK with
sophisticated counterfeit Bulgarian passport.
7. In September and October 2007 another
Bulgarian police officer was seconded for six weeks to work with
the British Transport Police. His main task was to assist his
British colleagues in tackling the problem of Bulgarian pickpockets
in the London transport system. Though relatively few in numbers,
the latter are traditionally difficult to deal with as they come
from specific closed ethnic group. This exercise has also been
quite successful. Although not officially confirmed, there is
already information of members of the criminal group starting
to leave the UK.
8. Last but not least, the accession of
Bulgaria to the EU provided new opportunities for cooperation
within the EU institutions. Bulgarian participation in the JHA
Councils during the German and Portuguese Presidencies of the
EU has already demonstrated that Bulgaria is an active and reliable
Member State and partner. Furthermore, Bulgaria and the UK share
similar positions on a number of important issues like the strengthening
of the European Police Office, EUROPOL, the role of the European
Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External
Borders of the Member States of the EU, FRONTEX, the incorporation
of the Treaty of Prum in the acquis communautaire, the access
to the data stored in the EU information systems (SIS, VIS, etc)
by the Member States' security and law enforcement authorities
fighting terrorism and organised crime, and so on.
9. In conclusion, the gloomy predictions
of parts of the British media and some politicians of "criminal
and immigration influx" from Bulgaria to the UK have proved
to be entirely unfounded. This fact has been officially admitted
by two consecutive Home Secretaries in their bilateral meeting
with the Bulgarian Minister of Interior, in April 2006 and April
2007 respectively.
19 November 2007
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