Second Working Forum of Chief Prosecutors of the Balkan countries: Political pressure against the independence of the prosecutor’s office is unacceptable

Pressure against the independence of prosecutors is unacceptable. Especially pressure that comes from politicians. This is one of the conclusions of the discussion held within the Second Working Forum of the Chief Prosecutors of the Balkan countries entitled "The Role of the Prosecution in Establishing the Rule of Law", which is being held in Sofia on June 24

Effective prosecution is the biggest guarantee for the rule of law, trust in institutions and a prosperous economy, state prosecutors in the region say.

The talks also focused on the benefits of the effective interaction demonstrated in recent years between the prosecutors' offices of the Balkan Peninsula, which is essential for the effectiveness of national judicial systems.

Bulgaria’s Chief Prosecutor, Ivan Geshev, opened the Second Working Forum of Chief Prosecutors of the Balkan States with the words: "The best weapon is personal professional dialogue with fellow prosecutors, which makes our work more effective in the fight against crime." He expressed confidence that the sharing of best practices from the work of individual national prosecutor's offices "will be extremely useful in finding possible solutions and tackling the challenges of achieving ever-increasing results in the fight against crime and especially cross-border crime".

Ivan Geshev wished the participants in the forum to continue affirming the good professional image, contribution and achievements of the guild throughout the region, while defending the principles of law and independence of the profession.

Ladislav Hamran, President of Eurojust, greeted the participants in the Second Working Forum of the Chief Prosecutors of the Balkan States via videoconference.

The forum in Sofia is attended by the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Turkey Bekir Sahin, the Prosecutor General of the Republic of North Macedonia Lubomir Joveski, the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Albania Olcian Cela, the First Deputy Prosecutor General of Romania Bogdan Licu, the Deputy Prosecutor General Head of the Special Department for War Crimes of Bosnia and Herzegovina Milanko Kayanic. Representatives of the prosecutor's offices of Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, Greece and Bulgaria made representations.

The participants in the discussion decided that the host the Third Working Forum of the Chief Prosecutors of the Balkan States will be Romania.

images by Dessislava Kulelieva