Brussels, 27/11/2003 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday in Bucharest, Europol and Romania signed a cooperation agreement covering the sharing of information on persons in order to aid the fight against terrorism, drug and human trafficking and other forms of serious crime. South Eastern Europe represents a transit region for drugs, illegal immigration and the trafficking of human beings to the European Union, underlined the Europol Director Jürgen Storbeck, when welcoming the agreement's signature.
The European Police Office has already signed such agreements with all the acceding countries (except Malta), Bulgaria, Russia, the United States, Iceland, Norway, and Interpol. It also signed agreements with the World Customs Organisation, the European Central Bank and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, but the agreement only covers techniques or strategic reports, and does not allow for the sharing of personal information.