The statement of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Cătălin Predoiu, after the meeting with his Italian counterpart, Matteo Piantedosi, regarding the fight against organized crime, drug trafficking and human trafficking
The statement of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Cătălin Predoiu, after the meeting with his Italian counterpart, Matteo Piantedosi, regarding the fight against organized crime, drug trafficking and human trafficking
I recently had a meeting with the Italian Minister of the Interior. We agreed with him to develop police cooperation to combat organized crime, drug trafficking and human trafficking, through 1) exchange of experience, 2) exchange of information and 3) direct, joint operational actions to combat organized crime.
We are increasing the number of Romanian policemen assigned to this cooperation with the Italian policemen in order to identify which members of organized crime are carrying out their criminal activity on the territory of Romania. These measures will directly contribute to the safety of Romanian citizens.
For us, the connection with the national police of other EU member states, such as the Italian one, represents an investment in the ability of the Romanian Police to fight organized crime.
We also had discussions with the management of the Police Academy in Rome to strengthen the collaboration with the „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” Police Academy, with a view to increasing the number of Romanian police officers who will exchange experience with their Italian colleagues and add more value to the expertise and specialization they already have in combating organized crime.
On a more general level, the reform and modernization of the „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” Academy is an investment in increasing the professionalization and integrity of all MIA arms.
I also discussed with my colleague, the Italian Minister of the Interior, the aspects related to the practice of permanently convicted citizens who flee from the application of Romanian law and find legal loopholes in Italian law to do so. Respecting the independence of all European magistrates, I emphasized the fact that European regulations unequivocally establish the principle of recognition of final court decisions within the European Union. The Italian minister agreed with these views and we agreed to keep this topic on our joint agenda.
