Prime Minister Andrus Ansip replied to the interpellation concerning international cooperation with the organisation Interpol (No 364), submitted by Members of the Riigikogu Priit Toobal, Lauri Laasi, Ester Tuiksoo, Kalev Kallo, Marika Tuus-Laul and Enn Eesmaa on 4 November. 

The interpellators wished to know how the Prime Minister assessed the cooperation with Interpol. 

Ansip gave positive assessment to the current cooperation with Interpol. In his words, Interpol has established good cooperation instruments for all its member states, for example, a secure communication channel and databases. Ansip noted that the quality of using these possibilities depends on each member state. The Prime Minister considers membership of Interpol important insofar as it is the only organisation allowing cooperation with competent legal protection services of the majority of countries in the world. Interpol is one of the main instruments of successful international police cooperation, Ansip said. 

Estonia has been a member of Interpol for over 20 years. During this time, hundreds of fugitives have been caught in the course of police cooperation. During the last five years, an average of 36 persons declared fugitives by Estonia have been caught in foreign countries and extradited to Estonia every year. During an equal period of time, an average of 47 persons per year have been caught in Estonia and extradited to foreign countries. 

When discussing the declaring of Erik-Niiles Kross an international fugitive, the Prime Minister explained that the use of the Interpol database and communication channels by Russian authorities to search for Eerik-Niiles Kross had been contested. The contestation had been initiated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs whose area of administration includes cooperation with Interpol. 

During the open microphone, Mihhail Stalnuhhin and Rein Lang took the floor.

The Riigikogu Press Service 

 

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