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Czech Republic, Germany sign new police cooperation deal

Xinhua, April 29, 2015 Adjust font size:

Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec said on Tuesday that he has signed a new police cooperation agreement with his German counterpart Thomas de Maiziere in Prague.

The new agreement will raise the powers of Czech and German police in pursuing suspicious drivers and enables rapid intervention in the partner state without its previous consent if human lives or health are endangered.

Under the agreement, the police could pursue suspicious drivers on the territory of the other country as in their own country. This also applies to police helicopters and customs authorities. The new agreement also applies to bilateral cooperation in the protection of witnesses, extradition of people and escorting of dangerous or over-size cargo.

It will replace the outdated cooperation agreement on fighting organised crime from 1991 and the police cooperation agreement from 2000 between the two countries.

Under the present agreement, police patrols can operate within 30 km away from the partner country's border. Maiziere said the two countries will continue forming more joint police patrols, and the whole Saxony and Bavaria will be considered a border zone after the new agreement takes effect.

The thefts of cars, farming and building machines and metals recently bothered the Germans living along the Czech and Polish borders. And the smuggling of pervitin (methamphetamine) from the Czech Republic to Germany where it is known as "crystal meth" is also a serious problem.

The new agreement will be submitted to the two countries' parliaments for approval. Endit