Off the wire
• Chinese listed SOEs yield reform dividends in H1  • Urgent: Ali Bongo wins presidential elections: minister  • Kenya captain Wanyama roots for Uganda to qualify for Africa Cup  • UN chief arrives in Sri Lanka for visit  • Xinhua world news summary at 1530 GMT, Aug. 31  • Hungarian FM tells EU to wrap up Serbian accession talks by 2020  • Latvian gov't considers caps on cash transactions to fight shadow economy  • 1st Ld-Writethru-Xinhua Insight: Demolished furnace shows China's resolve to tackle overcapacity  • Report says Saudi-led airstrikes kill 16 civilians in northern Yemen  • Urgent: Singapore confirms first case of pregnant woman with Zika  
You are here: 　 Home

1st LD Writethru: BiH, Europol sign police cooperation agreement

Xinhua, August 31, 2016 Adjust font size:

After several months of negotiating and harmonizing at all levels in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the nation signed an agreement on operational and strategic cooperation with the European Police Office (Europol) here on Wednesday.

After signing the agreement with Europol director Rob Wainwright, BiH Minister of Security Dragan Mektic said this act represents the biggest step of BiH on the path to European integration when it comes to the security sector, as it makes the security agencies of BiH part of the European security system.

Mektic added he was pleased that BiH will be able to contribute to overall European security, and that thanks to cooperation with Europol, BiH will obtain new tools and mechanisms in the fight against all security challenges.

"We live in dangerous times when the threat of terrorism in Europe is the largest in the last 20 years, with an unprecedented migrant crisis and new forms of organized and cyber crime. This is why the agreement is particularly important. Our cooperation will make both BiH and the EU safer," Wainwright said during a joint press conference.

Wainwright added that as of today, all resources of Europol will be made available to BiH in its efforts to improve the security situation and to fight against terrorism and crime.

The agreement will expand cooperation between Europol and BiH in combating cross-border criminal activities by exchanging information, including personal data of suspected criminals, and jointly planning operational activities.

The text of the cooperation agreement between Europol and BiH was approved by the Council of the European Union earlier this year. The agreement will be applicable in BiH once it is ratified by competent national authorities.

After the joint press conference, Wainwright and Mektic visited the BiH Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies, where they met with its director Mirsad Vilic.

Vilic stressed that the signing of the agreement allows for more efficient cooperation with the member states of Europol to combat international organized crime, especially terrorism, illicit drug trafficking, human trafficking, cyber-crime and other forms of crime that are within the competence of Europol.

Vilic added that police agencies in BiH will now be able to exchange strategic and operational information, including personal data with member states of Europol. Enditem