British and Greek officials recently joined Romanian partners for technical discussions focused on asset recovery and the fight against serious and organized crime.
The meetings held in Bucharest on February 4-5 were organized jointly by the British Embassy Bucharest and the British Embassy Athens, in close cooperation with Romanian authorities responsible for tackling illicit finance and organised criminal activity.
Over the course of two days, representatives from the UK and Greece engaged with key Romanian institutions, including the National Agency for the Management of Seized Assets (ANABI), the National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF), the General Prosecutor’s Office and the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), to explore operational challenges, share practical experience and exchange best practices on identifying, managing and recovering illicit assets.
British Ambassador to Romania, Giles Portman, said: “We value our partnership with Romania and Greece in promoting effective models of asset confiscation, and we welcome the opportunity to learn from each other’s experience. Romania can be particularly proud of the creation and successful operation of ANABI, which stands as a strong regional example. We are pleased to have brought together experts from all three countries to deepen cooperation on asset recovery and asset management.”
Cornel‑Virgiliu Călinescu, adviser to the Minister of Justice and former Director General of ANABI, stated: “Events like this, bringing together practitioners from various jurisdictions, such as the UK and Greece, give us the opportunity to transfer knowledge and advance faster. We shared our experience and we also learned about the solutions envisaged by our colleagues in making asset recovery and management more efficient.”
Romania, Greece and the UK each bring distinct experience in investigating cross‑border financial flows, managing confiscated property, and developing legislative and operational tools to counter organized crime.
Through structured exchanges, the three countries aim to better understand each other’s systems and constraints, improve coordination, and contribute to more effective disruption of criminal networks across the region, the British embassy said in a press release.
Asset recovery plays a central role in tackling serious and organized crime. Illicit profits sustain criminal organizations, enabling them to expand their operations, corrupt institutions and undermine public safety.
Strengthening the ability of states to trace and seize those assets reduces the space in which criminal groups can operate and helps protect citizens from the harms linked to trafficking, fraud, drug smuggling and other forms of organized crime. The meetings in Bucharest highlighted the importance of sustained international cooperation, particularly as illicit finance is increasingly moved across borders and requires coordinated responses from multiple jurisdictions.
Participants also discussed how to build long‑term resilience in asset recovery systems, from legislative frameworks and institutional structures to operational capabilities. The exchanges underscored the value of learning from each other’s successes and obstacles, and of ensuring that practitioners from all three countries can work together seamlessly in ongoing and future cases.
