Information provided by Europol has helped Cyprus police investigations in 70 per cent of child pornography cases, Cyprus Chief of Police Zacharia Chrysostomou said on Friday during a meeting with Europol Director Catherine De Bolle.
De Bolle and Chrysostomou met to discuss the current state of affairs, coincidentally after the successful dismantling of a digital fraud cartel across nine countries including Cyprus.
“It is important to make visits to states and listen to needs and expectations,” said De Bolle, saying that Europol plays a significant role in the security of member states and their citizens.
Cyprus is currently one of the most important partners in the area of cybercrime, as demonstrated by its role in the dismantling of the online cartel, and De Bolle praised the Cypriot cyber police for their expertise. Their level of training stems, in part, from the Cyprus cybercrime centre of excellence, co-funded by the European Union’s prevention of and fight against crime programme.
Cyprus is also an active member of the EU policy cycle for organised and serious international crime, which the European Council voted to extend for the period of 2018 to 2021 in March 2017.
“Europol is committed to continuing to support the Cypriot authorities in its fight against organized crime, terrorism and the government of crime,” said De Bolle, as she thanked the chief for their productive talks. “I hope we will continue this dialogue at the meeting of police chiefs in September at Europol,” she added.
Evaluations of contributions between Europol and the Cyprus authorities reveal strong support from both sides. De Bolle and Chrysostomou nevertheless agreed to increase and strengthen cooperation, stressing the importance of training and with focus on improvement.
“Good cooperation with Europol and the exchange of information is one of the key points of cooperation and we are determined to strengthen this cooperation in the future, particularly in the fight against illegal immigration and economic crime,” added Chrysostomou.
An example is the European Migrant Centre (EMSC), developed by Europol, in order to help nations in need, considered of great importance to Cyprus due to its geographical location on the European Union’s eastern border.
No matter the country, Chrysostomou said, internal security poses an enormous challenge in the field of internal security, and Europol has become a force, not just against crime, but as an example of the importance of European integration.
