On September 9th, 2024, the meeting of Mr. Cătălin Predoiu, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Internal Affairs, with H.E. Mr. José Antonio Hernández Pérez-Solórzano, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Spain to Romania, took place at the headquarters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
During the discussions, the good cooperative relations developed under the umbrella of the Strategic Partnership between the two countries, the consistency of the bilateral level dialogue, as well as the effective cooperation between the ministries of interior were highlighted.
Internal affairs occupy a special place in the cooperation as a whole, the complexity of the links in this field being given by the presence on Spanish territory of the second Romanian community abroad – from the numerical point of view.
Combating organized crime, especially human trafficking and drug trafficking, is a priority at the level of the relevant structures in the two countries. In this sense, concrete ways of collaboration were established, the results of operative cooperation activities being very good.
The two interlocutors highlighted the importance of continuing the steps to conclude a new legal instrument that would regulate collaboration in the field of combating human trafficking.
The status of the main European files was another topic on the discussion agenda, and the interlocutors highlighted that the new pieces of European legislation, especially those that are part of the Pact on migration and asylum, or the implementation of the new European information systems are at the center of concerns at the level relevant ministries in both countries.
The lifting of controls at the internal land borders remains Romania’s most important objective for the next period. The Kingdom of Spain has constantly been a supporter of this file, and the active involvement of the authorities in this country resulted in the adoption, during Spain’s exercise of the presidency of the Council of the European Union, of the Decision to lift air and sea border controls for Romania and Bulgaria.
Romania is preparing for the second stage – accession with land borders – and, in this sense, cooperation with international partners is essential. Measures are successfully implemented at all Romanian borders, there is very good cooperation with all neighboring states, and the figures regarding illegal migration are close to zero.
The Spanish ambassador expressed hope for the completion, as soon as possible, of the Schengen file and communicated that one of the priorities of the authorities in Madrid is represented by the continuation of support to achieve this objective.
