The Diplomat
The Minister of Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, visited yesterday in Lyon the headquarters of Interpol, the international police agency that this year celebrates the centenary of its creation and with which Spain collaborated in 2022 in the arrest of 83 people wanted abroad and 398 fugitives located in Spain.
During his visit to the headquarters, located in the French city of Lyon, Grande-Marlaska highlighted the “outstanding role” played by Spain in Interpol since its creation in 1923 and reaffirmed the commitment of our country with the agency. “The quantity and quality of information exchanges, the volume of records contributed to the databases, the number of detainees for extradition and the intervention in a good part of the organization’s operations endorse this commitment,” said the minister.
At present, four agents of the National Police and Civil Guard are stationed at Interpol headquarters in Lyon, and one more at the Innovation Center in Singapore. According to the Ministry of the Interior, throughout 2022 Spain collaborated with Interpol in the arrest of 83 persons wanted abroad and 398 fugitives located in Spain. Likewise, 228 extraditions were executed, 95 of them corresponding to persons wanted by Spain, and 133 to deliveries to other countries.
The Minister of the Interior was received at Interpol headquarters by its Secretary General, Jürgen Stock, with whom he held a working meeting, which was also attended by Stephen Kavanagh, Executive Director of Police Services; María Guadalupe Medina, Chief of Staff to the Secretary General; and Maria Berger, Interpol’s Strategy and Policy Advisor.
During the meeting, Grande-Marlaska expressed Spain’s desire to continue collaborating with the organization “as a relevant actor, reflecting the role of our country in its geostrategic position, as a bridge of cultures and a link between continents,” and pledged to work during the upcoming Spanish Presidency of the European Union to promote the integration of Interpol in the development of Ameripol, the American police organization, as well as to advance negotiations between Interpol and the European Commission so that EU agencies can access the organization’s databases.
He also highlighted Spain’s commitment to continue increasing police cooperation with African countries, especially in regions such as the Sahel or the Maghreb, and in areas such as the fight against terrorism or human trafficking, areas in which Spain “has accumulated a great deal of experience through joint investigation teams and other bilateral and multilateral projects”, according to the Ministry.
