Grande-Marlaska meets with his Ukrainian counterpart in Kyiv to strengthen bilateral security cooperation

The Minister for Homes Affairs, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, and his Ukrainian counterpart, Klymenko Ihor

The Minister for Home Affairs, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, and his Ukrainian counterpart, Klymenko Ihor, pledged this Monday in Kyiv to continue strengthening security cooperation between the two countries and emphasised the "proven effectiveness" of the bilateral agreement on cooperation in the fight against crime, signed in 2001, which has enabled the implementation of "highly significant" operations against organised crime.

During the meeting at the Ukrainian Ministry of the Interior, Grande-Marlaska referred to joint operations in the fight against drug trafficking, cryptocurrency fraud, the dismantling of networks involved in the illicit trafficking of vehicles, weapons and people, as well as the recovery of historical heritage and the location of criminals who have fled from justice.

The minister also mentioned the deployment, in December 2022, of the Spanish Police Support Team, composed of 11 members of the State Security Forces and Corps, to assist the Ukrainian Prosecutor's Office in the investigation into war crimes.

Spain has granted more than 266,000 temporary protections to Ukrainian citizens. "We are the fourth European country in terms of the number of Ukrainians hosted, despite our geographical distance", Grande-Marlaska noted during his bilateral meeting with the Ukrainian Minister of the Interior. "This figure speaks volumes about Spanish society and the Ukrainians who have chosen to live in our country", added the minister, who assured his counterpart of "responses and viable solutions" for all citizens displaced in Spain.

Grande-Marlaska conveyed to Ihor Spain's commitment to the country, both in terms of temporary protection, integration and participation of Ukrainians in Spain, as well as the reconstruction of Ukraine and the voluntary return of its citizens.

During his visit to Kyiv, Grande-Marlaska toured some of the city's streets and witnessed the devastating effects of the war. Rescue teams showed the delegation the ruins of an apartment building where 24 people, including three children, died in an attack on 14 May.

Later, the minister participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Memorial Wall and visited the Air Safety Department, accompanied by Deputy Interior Minister Serhii Naumenco. This afternoon, before returning to Spain, he is scheduled to meet with the head of the EU Security Mission in Ukraine (EUAM), Rolf Holmboe.

The Interior Ministers took advantage of the meeting to sign the Implementation Protocol on the Readmission of Persons, which, in the words of the Spanish minister, represents "a further step in the close relationship and mutual trust" between the two countries in "an essential area such as the management of migration flows and border governance".

The signing of the agreement "strengthens" the process of legal and operational convergence between Ukraine and the European Union, the Minister emphasised, and advances the "path of shared alignment that brings the European project closer to Ukraine" with the aim of consolidating its recovery and promoting its accession to the European Union.

The Protocol is framed within the EU-Ukraine Readmission Agreement, signed in 2007, and constitutes one of the key instruments of dialogue on mobility, migration and border management between the signatories. The text regulates the communication channels between the authorities of both countries, the formats for submitting applications, processing times and provisions relating to transit and the organisation of return operations.

Non official translation