Western Mediterranean police force directors sign declaration to offer a firm and effective response to common threats

The meeting was attended by the heads of the police forces of Algeria, Spain, France, Italy, Morocco, Mauritania, Portugal and Tunisia, who ratified the need to step up cooperation in tackling terrorism, organised crime, cybercrime and human trafficking. The meeting included speeches from representatives of INTERPOL, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the European Border Agency (FRONTEX).

Following this initial meeting, the attendees signed a joint declaration to offer a firm and effective response to counter the most serious criminal offences. Furthermore, the heads of the police forces of these countries undertook to maintain an annual meeting to continue forming joint action strategies.

Counter-terrorism plans, mixed patrols, joint training

In their declaration, the police force directors agreed to boost their combined fight against terrorism, and agreed to work together to identify foreign terrorist fighters and promote joint action plans to prevent and investigate their modus operandi and to control weapons. In addition, police measures that are already offering excellent results will be boosted to tackle international crime, such as joint investigations, police cooperation and coordination centres, and mixed patrols. The directors stressed that they must continue taking steps on this type of operational cooperation, as well as to establish measures to control the laundering of illegal gains from organised crime activities and in the exchange of information and experiences to fight mafias.

As a follow-up to this meeting, they also agreed to establish more effective cooperation mechanisms to fight illegal immigration and human trafficking, including joint deployments and operations, the gathering of intelligence on the networks, routes and resources used in human trafficking, the technical training of those officers responsible for border control, the exchange of information on identity and travel documents, cooperation with countries of origin and the identification and repatriation of those who enter the country illegally.

To combat cybercrime, the police force directors declared their intention to promote the exchange of experiences between specialised units, specific training projects and strengthened cooperation in relation to international institutions such as Interpol.

Finally, they agreed to strengthen cooperation in the area of police training through the exchange of students and teachers, the implementation of specific courses and the establishment of a network of training centres between countries. Furthermore, they will seek the involvement of European Union institutions in operational, technological and police training cooperation projects carried out within the regional framework of the Western Mediterranean.