Juan Ignacio Zoido underlines importance of strengthening cooperation between Spain and Portugal to combat Jihadi terrorism and violent radicalisation

During the course of their meeting, the two ministers discussed various issues related to the fight against terrorism, cross-border police cooperation (Centres for Police and Customs Cooperation and the interconnection between the Spanish SIVE and Portuguese SIVICC surveillance systems), cross-border cooperation on civil protection and other matters of interest to their respective ministerial departments.

Juan Ignacio Zoido told Constança Urbano de Sousa that he is firmly committed to stepping up joint efforts by Spain and Portugal, and further developing those efforts in areas that require a particular understanding and mutual trust, such as the fight against terrorism. In this regard, Juan Ignacio Zoido highlighted the great work and effort being made by the Spanish State law enforcement agencies in terms of the fight against Jihadi terrorism. The Spanish Minister for Home Affairs stressed that, since their last bilateral meeting in Seville in February, the Spanish National Police Force and Spanish Guardia Civil have carried out 18 operations in just three months and arrested 26 alleged Jihadi terrorists, the most recent arrest taking place on 23 May in Madrid.

Juan Ignacio Zoido told his Portuguese counterpart that a total of 230 police operations against Jihadi terrorism have been carried out in Spain since 2004, leading to 771 arrests. Furthermore, since 26 June 2015, the year in which the Spanish Ministry of Home Affairs raised the Counter-Terrorism Alert Level to level 4 (Spanish acronym: NAA), the law enforcement agencies have arrested a total of 164 Jihadist terrorists in operations carried out in Spain and abroad, and a total of 212 since the start of 2015.

The Minister for Home Affairs, Juan Ignacio Zoido, congratulated Constança Urbano de Sousa on building a permanent structure for the Portuguese Counter-terrorism Coordination Unit (UCAT) with new staff and material resources because Spain has a similar Centre for Intelligence against Terrorism and Organised Crime (Spanish acronym: CITCO) that is responsible for analysing strategic information on such security threats as terrorism, organised crime and violent radicalisation.

In this regard, Juan Ignacio Zoido proposed that these two counter-terrorism centres endeavour to build closer ties while maintaining the usual channels for the exchange of information and cooperation that already exist between the Portuguese and Spanish police forces.

At this meeting, Juan Ignacio Zoido told his Portuguese counterpart that Spain is particularly concerned by the terrorist threats from the Sahel region and Libya, as well as from other conflict zones from which Jihadi combatants return, mainly Syria and Iraq. Juan Ignacio Zoido said that both Spain and Portugal are highly committed to the fight against returning Jihadi combatants due to the growing threat of radicalisation, and underlined the importance of maintaining and stepping up cooperation and the exchange of information between the security forces of the two countries related to the fight against Jihadi terrorism and violent radicalisation.

To end, Juan Ignacio Zoido expressed gratitude for the excellent cooperation from Portugal on the fight against other terrorist groups, such as ETA and Resistencia Galega.

Cross-border police cooperation

The Minister for Home Affairs, Juan Ignacio Zoido, told Constança Urbano de Sousa that the Spanish-Portuguese Centres for Police and Customs Cooperation (Spanish acronym: CCPA) have consolidated their position as "excellent instruments" for improving the exchange of information and supporting the tasks of investigation and border and customs control undertaken by the State law enforcement agencies of Spain and Portugal.

As regards the exchange of information, Juan Ignacio Zoido asked Constança Urbano de Sousa for these CCPA to use the Secure Information Exchange Network Application (SIENA) that Europol has created in order to improve the exchange of information and enable a pilot experience to assess the scope of the challenges posed by the implementation of this new system for the two countries.

At the meeting, Juan Ignacio Zoido committed to promoting the interconnection between the two surveillance systems - the Spanish SIVE and the Portuguese SIVICC - in terms of the fight against illegal immigration and border control, with a view to this being in place by the start of next year. Juan Ignacio Zoido said that concluding this project "will be key" to developing the European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR) that enables the exchange of operational information in real time between the National Coordination and Border Control Centres among the Member States.

Cooperation on civil protection

Juan Ignacio Zoido and Constança Urbano de Sousa welcomed the excellent cooperation between Spain and Portugal in terms of civil protection. The two ministers reviewed the issues discussed at the last Spain-Portugal Mixed Commission held in Madrid in May 2015 and the agreement for improving information exchange and setting up a technical committee as a working group of the Mixed Commission that was signed between the Directorate-General of Civil Protection and Emergencies of Spain and the National Civil Protection Authority of Portugal.

Juan Ignacio Zoido proposed to his Portuguese counterpart that progress be made on the draft Additional Protocol on Technical Cooperation and Mutual Assistance on Civil Protection so that it may be signed at their next bilateral meeting. Furthermore, the Home Affairs Ministers of Spain and Portugal discussed revising the Additional Protocol on Mutual Assistance on forest fires in cross-border areas and widening the geographical area for direct action from 15 to 25 kilometres on both sides of the border.