Romania's Prosecutor General Cristina Chiriac opened on Monday the debates of a program titled Strengthening U.S. - Romanian Transnational Cooperation on Combating Organized Crime, held in Constanta over June 8 - 10.

According to the Prosecutor General's Office, Chiriac thanked partners from the U.S. Department of Justice - the Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training - for organizing the event and for their consistent support in helping Romanian judicial authorities develop modern, effective mechanisms for judicial cooperation and organised-crime investigations.

Speaking about cross-border organized crime, Chiriac said it is now one of the gravest threats to legal order, public security and institutional stability.

She added that we are no longer dealing with isolated forms of criminality, but with complex, dynamic, flexible criminal structures, deeply interconnected at regional and international level. These networks operate according to the economic logic of monetary profit, which they then seek to introduce into the licit civil circuit through various laundering methods, using digital infrastructures and complex financial mechanisms. In pursuing this goal, they exploit cross-border mobility, social vulnerabilities and geopolitical instability. In such a context, the institutional response can only be directly proportional - based on transnational cooperation, exchange of expertise, technological innovation and strengthened strategic partnerships between judicial and law-enforcement authorities in different states.

'Crimes such as drug trafficking, human trafficking, migrant smuggling, cybercrime, money laundering or financial fraud can no longer be analysed or investigated solely at national level, because their effects quickly go past the borders of a single state,' Chiriac said.

The Prosecutor General stressed that Romania - and the Public Prosecution Office in particular - places significant emphasis on fighting organized crime, and that cooperation with U.S. partners is a key pillar of institutional effectiveness, helping develop modern investigative techniques and supporting prevention and detection efforts.

She went on to say that effective combating of organized crime requires a paradigm shift: a conceptual and operational move from isolated institutional reaction to coordinated, integrated action based on genuine international cooperation. No institution and no state can, on its own, respond today to criminal phenomena that operate globally, use emerging technologies and constantly adapt. This is why strategic, transnational partnerships between judicial and police authorities become essential for protecting the rule of law and maintaining public trust in state institutions. From this perspective, U.S. - Romanian cooperation is an example of a solid institutional partnership built on shared values, mutual trust and convergent objectives regarding the defence of the rule of law and citizens' safety, Cristina Chiriac underscored.

At the end of her remarks, the Prosecutor General underlined that Romania is no longer merely a beneficiary of technical and legal assistance, but a regional security provider and a judicial-expertise hub in Eastern Europe.

Romanian prosecutors and police officers are internationally recognized for their professionalism and courage. Still, we must not fall into the trap of self-sufficiency. Future challenges - such as the use of artificial intelligence by criminal networks or increasingly complex financial-fraud schemes - require us to keep pace with developments and stay one step ahead of organized crime. I am convinced that the working sessions of this program will generate useful conclusions, strong professional relationships and practical perspectives that will help improve our joint activity, Chiriac concluded. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Eusebi Manolache; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)