The meeting of the Operations Committee of the Group of Personal Representatives of the Heads of Governments of the Baltic Sea States chaired by the Russian Federation opened in Pskov. The agenda encompasses problems of combating organized crime and other urgent issues of fight against new challenges and threats.

The Russian delegation includes experts of the Russian MIA, the Russian FSB and the Federal Customs Service, as well as the Chiefs of the Russian MIA Administrations for the Kaliningrad, Murmansk and Pskov Regions and of the Russian MIA for the Republic of Karelia.

Representatives of the International Criminal Police Organization – Interpol, the European Police Office, the International Narcotics Control Board, and the Baltic Sea Region Border Control Board also take part in the meeting. The representative of the MIA of the Republic of Belarus was invited as an observer.

Representatives of the Baltic Region states will discuss a wide range of law enforcement issues during two days, the key topic will be cooperation in combating transnational crime.

The meeting was opened by International Cooperation Coordinator of the Russian MIA Major-General of Internal Service Petr Popov and Chief of the Russian MIA Administration for the Pskov Region Police Major-General Yury Instrankin.

The agenda of the first day comprised the work of expert commissions, including discussion of results of current operations and consideration of issues related to combating terrorism, extremism, drug sale and illegal migration.

The meeting of the Operations Committee was preceded by the expert session held to discuss issues of detection and identification of new psychoactive substances, forms of national legal mechanisms for control of their distribution, as well as possibilities and algorithms for prompt exchange of information about those substances. Experts proposed specific ways on how to implement appropriate measures, including those aimed to suppress international drug trafficking channels.

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The Group of Personal Representatives of the Heads of Governments of the Baltic Sea States was created in 1996 to assist the member states of the forum, governments and law enforcement bodies in the development of a shared vision regarding issues of fight against organized crime and customs violations in the Baltic Sea Region. From January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2016 the Group is chaired by the Russian Federation.