Minister of Internal Affairs Ana Revenco participated last week at an online working session with Catherine De Bolle, Executive Director of Europol. The discussion followed the Minister’s initiative.
At the beginning of the meeting, the Minister presented the state of play on internal affairs sector, which included information on the refugee flow, situation at the border, risks and threats, as well as the aid received from the European partners.
The cooperation with Europol, Interpol and Frontex enables the Ministry of Internal Affairs to enhance border security between the war zone and the EU countries. Together with the three international platforms, the need was discussed for addressing current challenges in the format of the extended state border security belt.
In this regard, the Minister of Internal Affairs has proposed to the representatives of the Europol platform to create a joint strategic and operational plan, which would include a common threat assessment and would cover segments from the analytical component to operational and strategic foresight. This plan will not only highlight the value of shared information, but will also show a willingness and understanding of the fact that the current context needs to be addressed as a joint effort.
’Increasing Moldova’s security capacity and resilience automatically means increasing Europe’s security resilience. We share the same concerns and the same objectives. Cooperation with Europol enhances regional security and contributes to strengthening the extended security belt of the European Union on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, bordering the war zone’ said Ana Revenco, Minister of Internal Affairs.
’I believe it is necessary to bring our efforts together towards this joint plan in order to raise awareness of the situation in the region’ said Catherine De Bolle, Executive Director of Europol.
Ways of preventing hate speech, propaganda and fake news were also discussed. In the current regional context, the need for effective tools to strengthen the response on this level was highlighted.
At the end of the meeting, the officials agreed on a next meeting, the discussions being based on the strategic plan consultations and the analyses carried out in the field by both Europol representatives and specialists from the Ministry.
