"Spain is maintaining its commitment to continue with relocations from Greece and Italy as an expression of its solidarity and in compliance with accepted obligations", says Juan Ignacio Zoido

At this meeting, the European Union Home Affairs Ministers discussed the migration situation in the central Mediterranean and the interoperability of security databases, border control and migratory flow management, among other issues on the European agenda.

Juan Ignacio Zoido said that the migrant crisis in the central Mediterranean has grown to "extraordinary scale" and for this reason, said the Spanish Minister for Home Affairs, "Spain understands and shares the need to adopt measures and support Italy". He went on to express Spain's solidarity with Italy and the situation affecting the central Mediterranean.

The Spanish Minister for Home Affairs stressed that the migrant crisis affecting Italy should be tackled through instruments and mechanisms aimed at a genuinely common migration policy. "We believe it is vital to further develop our cooperation with third countries - the countries of origin and transit - in order to facilitate the management of migratory flows", said Juan Ignacio Zoido.

In this regard, Juan Ignacio Zoido recalled that Spain is involved on the front line of the various initiatives aimed at ordered management of migratory flows through "significant and sustained efforts" to control the borders of the European Union in the western Mediterranean.

Juan Ignacio Zoido stated that Spain has complete solidarity with the operations being carried out in the central Mediterranean and is willing to continue working hard with its partners on both the design and implementation of all measures aimed at responding to the migration challenges. He then stressed that Spain is maintaining its commitment to continue with relocations from Greece and Italy "as an expression of its solidarity and in compliance with accepted obligations".

As regards the activities undertaken in the countries of origin and transit, Juan Ignacio Zoido said that "increasing the capabilities of the Libyan authorities in terms of surveillance and rescue is unquestionably the right path". In this regard, the Spanish minister recalled that Spain contributes to the training of personnel from the Libyan Coast Guard through Project Seahorse.

Juan Ignacio Zoido believes that "our actions as part of the EU should extend to Libya's neighbours" and stressed that "the strengthening of and collaboration with their border control and illegal immigration authorities is fundamental".

The interoperability of EU information systems

The Minister for Home Affairs, Juan Ignacio Zoido, advocated optimum use of EU information systems so that the competent authorities and State law enforcement agencies can have access to all the information they need to perform their duties.

Juan Ignacio Zoido warned that, to do so, "it is essential that all databases, including those related to criminal justice, should meet the interoperability goal". Furthermore, the Spanish minister stressed that "security is something in which there can be no cracks or compartmentalism, and all the information contained in the databases on security in a broad sense should be available and easily accessible".

Juan Ignacio Zoido told the EU Home Affairs Ministers that the information "should also be complete and, to that end, the entry and exit log should be expanded to also include European Union citizens". In this regard, the Spanish minister said that "we cannot hand advantages to terrorists or other criminals and then regret not having been able to avoid an attack or stop a terrorist on whom information already existed in a database that was not consulted or to which access was restricted".

Bilateral Spain-Georgia meeting

The Minister for Home Affairs, Juan Ignacio Zoido, attended a bilateral meeting with his Georgian counterpart, Gueorgui Mgebrishvili. Their discussions highlighted the value of the cooperation between the two countries on home affairs issues and they analysed the possibilities of expanding the excellent operational cooperation between the police services of Spain and Georgia in various areas.

Juan Ignacio Zoido spoke to Gueorgui Mgebrishvili about the need for a permanent and stable exchange of information and intelligence capable of identifying and locating criminal organisations of Georgian origin operating in Spain and developing joint operations to break up these criminal networks.

Juan Ignacio Zoido told his Georgian counterpart that Spain is highly interested in strengthening operational cooperation between the two countries, for which the mutual deployment of liaison officers and the development of actions at all three levels - police, strategic and operational - are needed following joint seminars and meetings. The two countries should also exchange experiences, as provided for in the Agreement to Combat Crime signed in Spain and Georgia.

Juan Ignacio Zoido shared information with the Georgian Home Affairs Minister on the police activity carried out in Spain in 2017, leading to the arrest of over 340 arrests of Georgian nationality accused of various types of offences and misconduct, especially aggravated domestic robbery, document forgery and money laundering.

Finally, Juan Ignacio Zoido said that, "although our cooperation is highly positive, we are going to need to strengthen it in order to keep working at the same levels of effectiveness we have demonstrated to date and with the cooperation mechanisms that lead to an increased exchange of information and criminal intelligence, and the coordination of joint operations".