In Lyon, France, the regular annual conference of the heads of the national central bureaus of Interpol, held under the motto “True global security can be achieved only when police around the world work together hand in hand”, completed its work.

The three-day forum (April 9-11) brought together 315 law enforcement officials from 150 states.

The Russian Federation was represented by an interdepartmental delegation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation and the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia was represented by Chief of the National Central Bureau of Interpol, Police Major-General Aleksandr Prokopchuk, who is the Vice-President of Interpol for Europe.

At the opening ceremony, Interpol President Kim Jong Yang made a welcoming speech. Noting the challenges and threats existing in the modern world, he called on the international police community to “be wise and strengthen the ties” in order to be able to work together to combat all forms of transnational crime. The President stressed the important role of law enforcement cooperation with other government agencies, international organizations and representatives of the private sector.

The idea of further joining the efforts of the international police community in the fight against transnational crime, cyber danger and terrorism was also supported by the Secretary General of Interpol Jürgen Stock. In his speech, he noted the important role of Interpol and each national NCB in ensuring the global security.

During the conference, a representative of the Russian delegation presented a report on the experience of Russian law enforcement agencies in the use of Interpol tools in the fight against international crime, the problems in this area, as well as possible ways to solve them.

In addition, the forum discussed a number of issues relating to the status and prospects for further enhancing the Interpol cooperation in the fight against international crime, the implementation of major projects and operations under the auspices of Interpol.

On the side-lines of the conference, working meetings were held with the heads of delegations of Iran, Mexico and a number of other countries, during which the most pressing issues of cooperation between law enforcement agencies of our countries in the fight against crime, as well as the possibility of further strengthening of partnerships with foreign colleagues were discussed.

Toward the close of the event, the delegates approved a number of documents aimed at improving the joint work of national bureaus.