The "Balkan Network for Euro Protection" conference started on 16 April in Dubrovnik. The conference, held for the sixth time in cooperation with and with the financial support from the European Commission under the Pericles IV programme, is attended by 95 experts in the field of combating currency counterfeiting, from 24 countries in the region. It brings together representatives of central banks, ministries of the interior, state attorney's offices and customs administrations, as well as representatives from the European Commission, European Central Bank, Europol and Eurojust.

The participants were welcomed by Ivana Jakir-Bajo, Vicegovernor of the Croatian National Bank in charge of the Currency Area, followed by Daniel Boreel, Legal & Policy Officer, who spoke on behalf of the Euro Protection & Euro Cash department within the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs. The conference is moderated by Petra Poldrugač, Director of the National Counterfeit, National Analysis and Coin National Analysis Centres.

Participants will discuss current challenges in combating currency counterfeiting, with a focus on preventing the counterfeiting of euro, and present current trends related to the emergence and detection of counterfeit euro cash. The conference will focus on the effective ways of preventing and combating the counterfeiting of euro cash, both in EU Member States and third countries that have yet to establish a legal and institutional framework that would allow the recommended actions to be effective.

The first day of the conference will be dedicated to defining strategic guidelines for the prevention of counterfeiting in the euro area and in Southeastern Europe, as well as preventing the distribution of counterfeit currency and high-quality components for currency counterfeiting through online platforms.

The second day of the conference will focus on the transposition of EU regulations into national legislations of the EU Member States in the euro area, and their implementation. In addition, the conference programme will include actions related to the organisation of institutions whose establishment is mandatory in accordance with EU regulations applicable in the Member States, as well as building of mutual trust and cooperation between central banks and credit institutions and other entities that are under the obligation to withdraw suspicious currency from circulation.