Countries need to start looking aggressively at the entire business model of trafficking and tackle the conditions allowing the crime to thrive. At the OSCE, we launched a programme of assistance to countries who want to increase their prosecution: we help them train their police officers, prosecutors and judges. But everything starts with political will: countries need first to see this as a priority, says Valiant Richey, OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, in an interview to EUROPOST.

One of our main goals will be to work with all Member States towards a more resilient Europe, better prepared to meet future challenges, says H.E. Anzej Franges, Ambassador of Slovenia to Sofia, in an interview to BTA at the start of Slovenia's presidency of the Council of the EU.

The Three Seas Initiative is a pro-European project but it needs to be institutionalised. For this purpose, a Secretariat should be established to support the realisation of the infrastructure and energy projects that will be implemented, says Ian Brzezinski in an exclusive interview to BGNES.

It is never too late to reach an agreement on what has previously divided us, let's keep talking, negotiating and discussing so that we can overcome our differences, says H.E. Ana Maria Ribeiro da Silva, Ambassador of Portugal to Sofia, in an interview with BTA at the end of Portugal's Presidency of the Council of the EU.

The Anti-trafficking directive is our core instrument within the European Union, which is comprehensive, victim centred, gender specific and child sensitive. The Commission will make legislative and other proposals to make effective the fight against the financial aspects of organised crime, including trafficking, Olivier Onidi, Deputy Director-General of the Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs at the European Commission and EU Anti-trafficking Coordinator, says in an interview to EUROPOST.

In his first days in office, US President Joe Biden got down to the business of restoring the status quo that had been dismantled by Donald Trump's stint in the White House. His strategic message America is Back, both for the domestic audience and the world, contains a number of suggestions, but I think the main one is that the US had been on a very clear and successful path before it was derailed in the past four years by the poor and downright harmful governance of the previous US president. It also means a course correction back to the familiar liberal paradigm and approach to international relations, which says that America is strong when it shares its global leadership with his partners, says Zdravko Popov, professor of political philosophy, in an interview to EUROPOST.

There are real fears that because the digital revolution is still in its early days, major mistakes will be made. These could be in the areas of data management, delayed processes, or even situations where an algorithm effectively makes the final decision. So the fear is that fundamental human rights would be infringed, says Séamus Boland, President of the EESC Diversity Europe Group, in an interview to EUROPOST.

It is a welcome step that the vaccine contracts have been or are in the process of being published but regrettable that transparency was not an automatic step. The public row in February between the Commission and one of the companies about the contents of one of the contracts was very damaging to public trust, says Emily O'Reilly, European Ombudsman, in an interview to EUROPOST.

Europe today has no doubts about whether the Western Balkans belong in the EU, but it needs to be made clear that this process (of accession) depends primarily on the work that each of the six candidate countries does. Their progress is assessed on the basis of the reforms they implement and the individual achievements they accomplish, says Bulgarian Vice PM and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva.

All of us who are actively involved in the process of North Macedonia's accession to the EU would like to see dialogue with Bulgaria resumed and sustainable solutions to existing bilateral issues found. No one benefits from a protracted dispute, says Ilhan Kyuchyuk, Bulgarian MEP from Renew Europe/MRF and EP standing rapporteur for North Macedonia, in an interview to EUROPOST.