EU and Latin America discuss combating organized crime in Brussels, focusing on synthetic drugs and enhanced international cooperation.
In Brussels, a landmark meeting took place between key security bodies from the EU and Latin America—COSI and CLASI. This ministerial-level discussion focused on combating organized crime.
Officials from the European Commission, General Secretariat of the Council, European External Action Service, Eurojust, and member states including Spain, Belgium, Hungary, and Poland attended. Polish representation was led by Chief Superintendent Michał Aleksandrowicz of the CBŚP, who also chairs the EMPACT NPS/Synthetic Drugs platform. He discussed synthetic drugs and cooperation under EMPACT.
Belgium’s Priority and Future Actions
Cooperation with Latin America and the Caribbean is a priority for Belgium’s EU Council presidency, reaffirmed at the EU-CELAC summit in July 2023. The COSI-CLASI meeting is a step towards enhanced international collaboration to tackle organized crime, particularly in synthetic drugs, a focus area for CBŚP and EMPACT.
The meeting signifies a commitment to strengthening justice and security partnerships to address transnational organized crime through regular high-level political dialogue.