Crime

Organised crime in Bulgaria and Romania persists, cyber crime and people-smuggling to increase in two-year outlook

The accession of Bulgaria and Romania into the European Union in 2007 raised hopes of improvement in tackling the problem of organised crime, but instead most of the criminal groups adapted to the new realities and reoriented themselves towards new markets.

Organised crime in Bulgaria and Romania emerged in the early 1990s during the transition to a market economy, when the regulatory and institutional chaos permitted the formation of criminal groups who took advantage of the privatisation of state assets and the shortage of consumer goods in the market.