On the 12th of September in Skopje (North Macedonia), the EJN Secretariat organized the annual meeting dedicated to the cooperation with the Western Balkans. The meeting gathered 45 EJN Contact Points from the Western Balkans and from the EU, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Justice of North Macedonia and the EJN partners in the region SELEC/SEEPAG and EU4FAST. The meeting was also supported by the WB CrimJust Project that ensures the regular participation of the EJN Contact Points in the region.
The discussions during the meeting were dedicated to operational topics in the field of judicial cooperation with specific focus on money laundering investigations. The Contact Points discussed the difficulties and outstanding legal obstacles to effective cross-border investigations of money laundering and asset tracing as well as the best practices adopted in their countries. They also shared examples of successful cooperation on cases and the support provided by the EJN Contact Points.
The meeting was an opportunity for the EJN Secretariat to update the Contact Points on the ongoing EJN projects and the activities in focus as well as to foster the direct contact between the Contact Points