Joint meeting between Spain, France and Niger

"Niger is a key partner of Spain in the Sahel", says Juan Ignacio Zoido

News - 2017.3.13

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During this meeting, Juan Ignacio Zoido and Bruno Le Roux expressed their support for the President of Niger, Mahamdou Issoufou, in the efforts being made by the Nigerien authorities in the fight against terrorism, organised crime, people trafficking networks and in the organisation of migratory flows.

In this regard, Juan Ignacio Zoido underlined that Spain is willing to cooperate, support and contribute with Niger at a bilateral level, and through the European Union "with our joint participation with France and Niger, in the projects Joint Investigation Team (Spanish acronym: ECI) Niger, Rapid Action Groups, Monitoring and Intervention in the Sahel and in the EUCAP Sahel Niger mission, and bilaterally through the cooperation agreement on the fight against crime signed in Niamey in May 2015".

Juan Ignacio Zoido and Bruno Le Roux also held a meeting with the Minister of Interior of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, at which they addressed various issues related to the security situation in Niger and the Sahel, the fight against illegal immigration (signing of ECI Niger Protocol), and the fight against terrorism and organised crime.

Juan Ignacio Zoido conveyed the excellent level of bilateral cooperation on migratory issues to his Nigerien counterpart, and evidence of that, highlighted the Spanish Minister for Home Affairs, is the Joint Investigation Team (ECI Niger) "which is an excellent example of the good climate of cooperation between our security forces".

The Joint Investigation Team (ECI Niger), headed up by Spain through the National Police, allows Spanish, French and Nigerien police officers to work together in the fight against human trafficking and contributes to helping organised immigration.

During this meeting, the Director-Generals of Police of Spain, France and Niger signed the Protocol to the Joint Investigation Team in Niger (ECI Niger), which will provide cover for the members of the security forces of the three countries that make up the Joint Investigation Team.

Juan Ignacio Zoido congratulated the Minister of Interior of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, over the measures adopted by the Government of Niger in the fight against human trafficking networks and over the "excellent results" obtained in recent months, which have led to a reduction in the number of people leaving Niger, which fell from 70,000 in May 2016 to only 1,500 in November.

Juan Ignacio Zoido described the preparation of the "Nigerien programme for the prevention and fight against illegal immigration" that provides for a raft of measures to combat human trafficking networks as "very positive".

Fight against terrorism and organised crime

The Minister for Home Affairs, Juan Ignacio Zoido, explained to the Minister of Interior of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, that the European Union and Spain, in particular, share the goal of fighting terrorism, organised crime and human trafficking networks with Niger. In this regard, Juan Ignacio Zoido conveyed to him that the European Union has adopted various measures to cooperate with the countries of the Sahel and Niger in particular.

Juan Ignacio Zoido reminded Mohamed Bazoum that Spain and France take part in various European initiatives on the fight against terrorism and to guarantee security in the Sahel, such as the Rapid Action Groups, Monitoring and Intervention in the Sahel to create robust, mobile and self-sufficient police units in Africa to combat terrorism and control borders, and the EUCAP Sahel-Niger mission to strengthen the capabilities of the Nigerien security forces in the fight against terrorism and organised crime.

During this official visit, Juan Ignacio Zoido claimed that Niger "is a fundamental partner of Spain's in the Sahel, which is why we are going to step up our cooperation in the fight against terrorism, organised crime and illegal immigration". The Spanish Minister for Home Affairs reaffirmed the importance of steeping up cooperation and exchanging information between the law enforcement agencies in the two countries to combat Jihadi terrorism and violent radicalisation.

Finally, at this meeting Juan Ignacio Zoido proposed to his Nigerien counterpart to call the first meeting of the Joint Spain-Niger Home Affairs Committee in Madrid in the second half of 2017.