The Diplomat
The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, yesterday thanked the work carried out by the counselors and attachés of the Ministry in the Spanish Embassies abroad to protect the rights of Spanish expatriates during the pandemic and to apply the restrictive measures against COVID-19.
Grande-Marlaska held yesterday a telematic meeting with the counselors and attachés that his department has deployed in the Spanish diplomatic missions accredited in 136 countries, to whom he reminded that “it is vital to strengthen international cooperation because, also in security, there is a close link between the internal and external dimensions”.
The counselors and attachés of Interior in the Spanish Embassies are members of the National Police and Civil Guard who report to the Directorate General of International Relations and Foreign Affairs of the Ministry and have as functions, among others, the collaboration with the members of the Security Forces and Corps of other countries, the relations with the Security and Interior authorities of the receiving State and the promotion of bilateral cooperation in matters of the Ministry of Interior, to which they also provide information and support in its external action.
During the meeting, Grande-Marlaska thanked them for their daily efforts to fulfill these missions as well as to protect the rights of Spaniards abroad, particularly those made during the pandemic, a work that has required them to make an additional effort to efficiently apply the restrictive measures agreed worldwide to curb COVID-19 infections, as reported by the Ministry in a press release.
He also recalled that “it is necessary to have all the necessary information to carry out our functions, including that which comes from other States” in the fight against terrorism and organized crime and warned that “civil protection, road safety, support for victims of terrorism and international protection also require collaboration between countries for a better and more effective response”.
The virtual day was attended by, among other officials of the department, Elena Garzón, director general of International Relations and Foreigners; José Antonio Rodríguez, director general of Coordination and Studies; Manuel Navarrete, director of the Intelligence Center against Terrorism and Organized Crime (CITCO); and Guillermo Fernández, head of the Cybersecurity Coordination Office (OCC).
These interventions also served to inform advisors and attachés of the new structure of the Ministry, modified after the recent creation of the General Directorate of Coordination and Studies in the Secretariat of State for Security, as well as the changes introduced in these management centers.
This is the first time that the Ministry of the Interior has organized such a day of information exchange, although the intention is to repeat it periodically. “We are driven by the permanent improvement to anticipate and gain in efficiency and, at the same time, to maintain high security standards in a broad sense”, concluded Grande-Marlaska.
