U.S., Bulgaria Cooperate on Narcotics Control, Law Enforcement

U.S., Bulgaria Cooperate on Narcotics Control, Law Enforcement

U.S., Bulgaria Cooperate on Narcotics Control, Law Enforcement

Signing ceremony formalizes agreement on U.S.-Bulgarian cooperation

Washington -- The United States and Bulgaria have signed an agreement to support joint law enforcement projects in Bulgaria, the U.S. State Department announced February 17.

Under the agreement, the United States is providing more than $4 million to support programs in Bulgaria aimed at strengthening institutions in the criminal justice sector, including forensics skills and laboratory equipment; combating human trafficking; enhancing the government’s ability to investigate and prosecute computer crime; and strengthening police/prosecutor cooperation.

The agreement was negotiated in May 2005. The signing ceremony, which took place at the State Department February 15, formally implemented the agreement, according to a State Department source. Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Anne Patterson and Bulgarian Minister of the Interior Rumen Petkov took part in the signing ceremony.

“By affirming its support for reforming and restructuring its judicial system and modernization of its criminal justice institutions, Bulgaria has made a significant commitment to its future democratic development and has taken a major step towards securing entry into the EU [European Union],” said the State Department announcement.

Bulgaria is “one of the United States' closest and most committed Southeast European partners” in combating the threats of corruption, transnational crime and organized crime, the State Department said. “We congratulate the people of Bulgaria on the progress they have made and the commitment they demonstrated towards achieving our common goal.”

The funds are provided through the Support for East European Democracies Act (SEED), which Congress passed in 1989 to facilitate development of democratic institutions, political pluralism and free market economies. Since 1990, Bulgaria has received more than $460 million in SEED assistance, according to the State Department.

According to the department’s International Narcotics Strategy Report for 2005, Bulgaria is a producer of synthetic drugs as well as a transit country for heroin from the Golden Crescent (Asia’s principal area of illicit opium production -- an area overlapping Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan) as well as some marijuana and cocaine.

The report says the government of Bulgaria “has emphasized its commitment to combat serious crime including drug trafficking,” but that poor interagency cooperation, inadequate equipment to facilitate narcotics searches, widespread corruption and an overall weak judicial system hamper counternarcotics efforts.

The United States supports various programs through the State Department, U.S. Agency for International Development, Justice Department and Treasury Department to address problems in the Bulgarian legal system. A criminal law liaison with the American Bar Association/Central and East European Law Initiative (CEELI) advises Bulgarian prosecutors and investigators on computer crime and other issues.

The State Department media note on signing of agreement and State Department background notes on Bulgaria are available on the State Department Web site.

The International Narcotics Strategy Report for 2005 discusses Bulgaria in the section on Europe and Central Asia.

The CEELI Web site has more information on its programs with Bulgaria.

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)