Brussels, 20/10/2006 (Agence Europe) - EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco Frattini has mooted the idea of setting up Europol units in the South-East Balkans. 'We also support the idea of deploying Intelligence Development Officers in the region. They should assist in the implementation of central units for the exchange of criminal information and intelligence which would eventually become Europol National Units,' explained Frattini in Karadjordjevo in northern Serbia on 16 October. Europol National Units have been established in all EU Member States to act as transmission relays between Europol and national agencies in the countries in question. The Commissioner travelled to Serbia to attend the signing of an agreement to take concerned action to combat organised crime and terrorism among the seven South-East Balkans states (Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia, Bosnia Herzegovina, Montenegro, Romania and Albania). The agreement document stipulates that working with the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the countries will 'further develop the judicial bodies, law enforcement agencies, security and intelligence services, as well as financial authorities… to detect, monitor and prosecute perpetrators of organised crime and terrorist activities'. (bc)