Macedonia, Kosovo and other eastern European countries pose an "imminent threat" to the integrity of euro bank notes to be introduced next month, Europol warned yesterday. "We are receiving intelligence that counterfeiters from these countries are active and could flood the markets with false currency from January," said Mr Willie Bruggeman, deputy director of the pan-European Union police agency.

The 12 EU states that have adopted the euro are preparing to introduce notes and coins on January 1st. Macedonia and Kosovo are two of half a dozen non-EU territories that intend to adopt the euro as their official currency. Counterfeiters are understood to be concentrating their efforts on copying €100 notes and, to a lesser extent, €200 notes. The quality of counterfeits was good, Mr Bruggeman said, indicating that Europol informants had seen them. But he was confident arrests could be made early in the new year.