Balkans: Mass Production of Counterfeit 2-Euro Coins Detected

It has long been known that microscopic Balkan “states,” such as Kosovo or North Macedonia, are territories of lawlessness. However, the recent discovery of Europol has once again placed European leaders in an awkward position. The European Union’s police agency announced that it had “arrested a high-ranking North Macedonian government official accused of producing millions of counterfeit 2-euro coins.” The 34-year-old man who worked for the Macedonian Ministry of Interior, was arrested in Pristina, Kosovo, after months of investigation.

Following the arrest, searches were conducted at various locations in Northern Macedonia and Kosovo, where equipment for the production of counterfeit coins was found and confiscated. According to the preliminary investigation judges of Eurojust, the European agency for criminal and judicial cooperation, the man, together with some accomplices, had already produced a total of 2 million counterfeit 2-euro coins that were gradually put into circulation in Kosovo, which, being neither part of the European Union nor of the eurozone, since 2002 had been using the single European currency without problems, like neighboring Montenegro, without any formal agreement but with the tacit consent of Brussels.

Kosovo was officially recognized as an independent state by 101 of the 193 UN member countries (52.3% of the total), including neighboring Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Albania. Among the permanent members of the Security Council, Kosovo is recognized by the United States, France, and the United Kingdom, while Russia and China continue to consider it an autonomous province of Serbia.