"We must continue to strengthen cooperation to make further progress on building a safer Western Mediterranean", says Francisco Martínez

At the meeting, it was agreed to design a common strategy to step up existing cooperation to enable the main security threats to be tackled more effectively, including those of terrorism and organised crime.

Along these lines, the 'Lisbon Declaration', approved on Tuesday at this Ministerial Conference specifies the need to improve the exchange of information, with a particular focus on the use of new technologies and the control of weapons; to step up the mechanisms for the arrest of members of organised crime networks; to share information between the services responsible for border control and to increase the exchange of best practices at a bilateral level.

Fight against terrorism

As regards the main threats facing democratic States, Francisco Martínez referred to the fight against Jihadi terrorism which in Spain has specifically recorded 124 operations and 568 arrests since 2004, with 38 operations and 104 arrests since the start of the present legislature. In this regard, "experience has taught us that to consider terrorism exclusively as a problem of public safety is a mistake and only a global approach can be effective to combat a complex phenomenon that requires a comprehensive response from all State authorities", he pointed out.

Furthermore, Francisco Martínez remarked that the fight against terrorism can only be effective with full political and social legitimacy, "which is why we recently approved a State Pact in Spain to guarantee unity in defending public liberties and in the fight against terrorism which ensures unified political action". That is why "the Lisbon Declaration we have signed today represents a decisive step towards unified political action with which to provide a joint and firm response to the global threat of terrorism", he pointed out.

As regards the differentiating characteristics of this international terrorist threat, Francisco Martínez, who referred to the phenomenon of 'foreign fighters', insisted on the need to work together in identifying those displaced terrorist fighters that return to any of our countries.

In concluding his speech on this issue, the State Secretary for Security, who very positively assessed the fact that the Lisbon Declaration associates the threat of terrorism with the potential destruction of chemical and bacteriological weapons, highlighted the close cooperation between Spain and Morocco in developing a joint action plan that has enabled several different activities to be carried out in terms of prevention, response and the mitigation of nuclear, radiological and biological risks, etc.

Fight against organised crime

As regards the fight against organised crime and illegal trafficking, Francisco Martínez explained that concerns exist over connections since on many occasions organised crime constitutes an important source of financing for terrorist groups. For this reason, he explained that the Spanish Ministry of Home Affairs took the strategic decision to merge the intelligence forces to tackle these threats by setting up the Intelligence Centre to tackle Terrorism and Organised Crime (Spanish acronym: CITCO), which, since the start of operations, has detected more than 200 situations demonstrating close ties between international terrorism and organised crime, pointed out Francisco Martínez.

Along these lines and after pointing out that the Lisbon Declaration correctly contains the areas for cooperation, for the exchange of information and best practices to combat mafias, the State Secretary for Security highlighted that "in Spain we share spaces and responsibilities with various Member States of this forum through Police Coordination Centres, Joint Police Stations, mixed patrols, etc.".

Illegal immigration

In relation to the fight against illegal immigration, Francisco Martínez underlined that Spain sees immigration policy as a comprehensive policy that should include elements that go beyond mere border control, integrating aspects of legal immigration, co-development and integration. He also stressed that "it is necessary to condemn the criminal activity of human traffickers who endanger the lives of hundreds of people for financial gain".

According to Francisco Martínez, stepping up cooperation with countries of origin and transit is a strategic priority for Spain, as are activities of a preventive nature with the aim of foreseeing and thus avoiding migratory crises and the criminal activity of mafias that traffic human beings. By way of example, he mentioned the Atlantic seaboard where a framework of effective cooperation has been consolidated between the State law enforcement agencies, the intelligence community created under FRONTEX and, above all, the bilateral agreements reached with these countries.

Cooperation on Civil Protection and Road Safety

The State Secretary for Security, who hailed the decision to incorporate civil protection within the commitments of the Lisbon Declaration, highlighted Operación Paso del Estrecho [Operation Crossing the Straits of Gibraltar] which is carried out each year between Spain and Morocco as an example of international cooperation, with consolidated structure and procedures that provides a good model for developing commitments acquired under the Lisbon Declaration.

As regards road safety, Francisco Martínez pointed out that sharing experiences, good practices and successful initiatives, along with implementing road safety tools are challenges that can be achieved by the Member States of CIMO.

Finally, Francisco Martínez thanked his Western Mediterranean partners for including a heightened role for local administrators within the scope of civil protection and road safety in the declaration signed on Tuesday.