Morocco, Spain discuss expanding areas of security cooperation

Morocco and Spain have discussed means of expanding areas of their security cooperation and enhancing the exchange of expertise in various issues of common interest at a meeting held during a working visit Director General of National Security (DGSN) and Territorial Surveillance (DGST), Abdellatif Hammouchi, paid to Spain on January 28-29, at the head of a large security delegation.

The meeting gathered Hammouchi and his accompanying delegation, and the Director General of Spain’s National Police, who was accompanied by the Commissioner General of Intelligence, the Commissioner General of Immigration and Borders, the Commissioner General of the Judicial Police, and the Commissioner in charge of international security cooperation, the DGSN-DGST hub said in a press release.

The two sides assessed the level of security partnership between Morocco and Spain in the fight against terrorism, violent extremism and the various forms of cross-border crime, notably illegal immigration, illicit trafficking in drugs and psychotropic substances, crimes related to new technologies and best practices to secure major sporting events and provide a safe environment to ensure success of international football events, as Morocco and Spain are preparing to host, alongside Portugal, the 2030 FIFA World Cup.

They also reviewed the challenges and threats facing the two countries and ways to combat them from a common perspective.

They welcomed the level and scope of bilateral cooperation in the security field and the efficiency of the joint and simultaneous operations carried out by the Moroccan and Spanish security services, in order to neutralize the risks of terrorist organizations and extremist individuals threatening the security of the two countries. They also stressed the need and importance to consolidate this cooperation given the challenges and aspirations of the two countries.

Following these talks, a series of thematic meetings were held with the participation of Moroccan and Spanish experts and security officials in charge of specific security departments, during which emphasis was placed on the mechanisms for strengthening advanced collaboration between the DGST and the General Information Commission of the Spanish Police, particularly in consolidating joint cooperation in the fight against the terrorist threat and drying up sources of recruitment and indoctrination of terrorist organizations.

Moroccan and Spanish experts also discussed ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the areas of criminal investigations, judicial police and the fight against different forms of crime threatening the national borders of the two countries, notably crimes of human trafficking, illegal immigration, drug and psychotropic drug trafficking, as well as different forms of economic and financial crimes, in addition to cybercrime affecting automated data processing systems.

In the same vein, both parties agreed to expand the scope of cooperation to intensify supervised drug delivery operations, to create joint teams to combat the various emerging criminal risks and to reflect on the creation of a joint security committee to anticipate the various security challenges related to the joint organization of the 2030 FIFA World Cup.

The heads of the security cooperation departments in the two countries also examined the mechanisms to facilitate joint security coordination, and ways to boost cooperation in the field of technical assistance and police training, as well as the evaluation of the performance of liaison officers operating in the two countries and the possibilities to develop and strengthen their roles in simplifying and accelerating cooperation between the security services of the two countries.

During his visit to Madrid, Hammouchi took part in a tripartite Moroccan-Spanish-German Coalition along with the Director General of the Spanish National Police, and the President of the German Federal Police.

The tripartite meeting discussed means of enhancing cooperation in matters of fight against terrorism, and various forms of cross-border crimes, particularly human trafficking, smuggling of migrants, illegal immigration, and organized crime gangs and examined mechanisms to expand the areas of collaboration between the security services of all three countries and ways to bolster trilateral coordination in the field of technical assistance and operational security cooperation.