As the borders of the European Union continue to expand it is imperative that co-operation with the countries of central and eastern Europe is enhanced in the fight against organised crime in order to defeat our common enemy. Ireland will continue to participate in EU measures to improve co-operation with these countries. Co-operation at a bilateral level is vital and in that context we have already signed intergovernmental agreements on crime and drug trafficking with the republics of Hungary and Poland as well as Cyprus, Bulgaria and Russia. Requests to enter into similar bilateral intergovernmental arrangements have been received from a number of other candidate countries and those are currently being examined.