The Minister of Internal Affairs, Cătălin Predoiu, had a meeting, on Thursday, March 14th, 2024, with Ylva Johansson, the European Commissioner for Internal Affairs, and Ghada Waly, the Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The discussions took place in the context of the ministerial segment of the 67th session of the UN commission on narcotic drugs in Vienna and aimed at developing joint efforts to prevent and combat drug trafficking and drug use.
Regarding the fight against drug trafficking in the region, Romania already has ongoing cooperation initiatives. The interlocutors agreed on the need to develop regional programs to prevent drug trafficking and consumption and to ensure the joint training of specialists and the exchange of good practices, so that the drug phenomenon is approached in a balanced and coordinated manner, in depending on the priorities identified at the regional level.
Romania is ready to implement such an initiative, having announced the political commitment of our country to establish, together with the EU and UNODC, the first regional coordination center focused on the prevention of drug use and the recovery and social reintegration of affected people.
Minister Predoiu stated: „We have agreed today that together with UNODC and with the support of the EU, we will focus our efforts and join our resources and expertise to develop a partnership in our region, dedicated to a response centered on health and human rights, to the consumption of drugs, to drug use disorders and to the harms related to this scourge.
We will strengthen cooperation and information exchange with the countries of the Western Balkans, Moldova and Ukraine. This will strengthen our capacities to prevent and combat drug trafficking and also ensure a common approach by encouraging the adoption of common regional drug policy documents. At the same time, we will support our partners in reaching and complying with EU standards in the field.”
