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Joint law enforcement team to fight high-level corruption in Bulgaria

Xinhua, April 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

A joint team involving the Bulgarian prosecutor's office, State Agency for National Security, and the ministry of the interior has been set up to combat high-level corruption, officials announced Friday.

Justice Minister Hristo Ivanov and Philip Gounev, Deputy Minister of Interior, said at a joint press conference that the team would begin work on April 6.

Ivanov said the creation of the new unit was triggered by the latest European Commission (EC) report on Bulgaria's progress under the EC's Co-operation and Verification Mechanism.

The report, issued in January, said "it remains the case that the number of final court judgments on high-level corruption and organized crime cases is very low," and the EC urged Bulgaria to step up action in such areas as reinforcing the capacity of the prosecution to pursue high-level corruption cases.

Gounev said the cooperative team would be composed of 50 officers and that number would gradually increase, following the experience of similar units in other Eastern European countries.

Meanwhile, another unit at the General Directorate Combating Organized Crime is to work on corruption at lower levels, especially those related to organized crime, Gounev added. Endit