Consortium IMOBEX

Tilburg University (The Netherlands) is a public research university specializing in the social and behavioural sciences, economics, law, business sciences, theology, and humanities with a student population of 17,000, 15 percent of whom are international students. The institution has gained a sound reputation in both research and education. In the field of law, Tilburg University was ranked #1 in the Netherlands for the last three years.

The Southeast European Law Enforcement Center (SELEC) is an international treaty-based law enforcement organization comprising eleven Member States (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and Turkey) and supports and enhances cooperation in preventing and combating crime, including transnational, serious,  and organized crime. SELEC has extensive expertise in successfully coordinating joint investigations and regional operations, supporting operational meetings, facilitating the swift exchange of information, and drafting strategic and operational analyses on cross-border organized crime in Southeast Europe.

Utrecht University (the Netherlands) hosts many different academic disciplines and stimulates these to participate in joint research. Law, Economics, and Organisational sciences are part of the same faculty, and academics working in these areas have worked closely together on the theme Future of Work. Hence, a multidisciplinary approach has a natural framework in this organisation. The university, founded in 1636, has a huge tradition of doing research and is listed high in several rankings, including the Shanghai list.

Vilnius University (Lithuania) was founded in 1579 and is the oldest and largest university in the Baltic States and one of the oldest and most famous establishments of higher education in Eastern and Central Europe. Recent statistics: 11695 undergraduate and 3717 graduate students, of which 1280 international students; 2890 academic staff; 656 researcher fellows; 847 PhD students. Vilnius University has longstanding traditions of international science and cooperation involving researchers, Master’s and PhD students, and foreign visitors.

Advisory Board

The Advisory Board supports the IMOBEX consortium particularly in connecting them with enforcement practitioners when necessary and by providing advice. The Board is composed of representatives of enforcement agencies of Lithuania, Romania, the Netherlands, and Europol. Members of the Advisory Board are Darius Urbonas (Former minister of the interior of Lithuania); Silviu Pitran (liaison officer at SELEC on behalf of the Romanian National Police and manager of the MIRAGE Task Force (targeting human trafficking); Warner ten Kate (National public prosecutor on trafficking in human beings and human smuggling, the Netherlands); Meike Lommers (advisor and expert on mobile banditry at the Centre for Crime Prevention and Safety, the Netherlands); René van der Heijde (expert on mobile banditry and human trafficking at Europol).

Expert group

IMOBEX also meets regularly with an expert group comprising enforcement practitioners from different European countries to discuss topics related to project activities.