A police cooperation agreement should be signed soon between Switzerland and Great Britain, according to Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter.
Federal Councilor Karin Keller-Sutter is the Minister of Justice.
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Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter announces a police cooperation agreement between Bern and London. “It is currently under negotiation”, she indicates in an interview published on Saturday in the German daily newspaper. “The New Zurich Times”. “I am optimistic that this agreement can be concluded soon. We don’t want security gaps if Schengen cooperation ends because of Brexit, ”she explains.
Britain is an excellent partner in the fight against terrorism, she notes. Regarding the pursuit of jihadists, Karin Keller-Sutter assures us that Switzerland owes almost all of its success to the British. And the Federal Councilor added that “since August 1, we have a police attaché in London”.
Identification facilities
As regards the security architecture in Europe, police sovereignty would remain the responsibility of each country, specifies Karin Keller-Sutter. “The Swiss example shows that it works”, she emphasizes. “Police sovereignty here also remains the responsibility of the cantons.”
There are already common information systems in Europe today, such as visas and fingerprints, continues Karin Keller-Sutter. “However, these systems must be redesigned so that we can obtain all the results through a single request”, details the Minister of Justice.
This would allow Switzerland to very quickly identify people traveling under dozens of assumed names. “Today these individuals can sometimes fall through the cracks when they enter the country.”
Potential victims
According to Karin Keller-Sutter, Switzerland must improve in terms of international police cooperation. Collective work remains the key in the fight against crime to protect the population, she insists. “Cross-border police cooperation is the backbone of security in Switzerland. We have 300,000 queries in the Schengen Information System every day and over 20,000 search results per year. ”
The current system will continue to be developed. For example, in order to be able to predict potential future victims. “If a father comes to pick up the children after a divorce and takes them across the border, almost nothing can stop him,” she warns. From now on, there will be categories for children who are at this risk.
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