The International Police Cooperation Division is an institutional Body engaged in the communication with police authorities and state services of all countries and with International and European Organizations on cooperation issues related to the competencies of the Hellenic Police Headquarters. In accordance with Article 8 of the Presidential Decree 178/2014, the Division consists of 5 Sections, that is the “Support and Missions Section”, the “European and International Affairs Section”, “SIRENE Section”, “INTERPOL Section” and “EUROPOL Section”. Moreover, on the basis of the statute in question, a Single Point of Contact for the exchange of information on international police cooperation (SPOC) is going to be established within the Division.
The Support and Missions Section is responsible for following the various issues and for administratively supporting the International Police Cooperation Division’s staff and the Hellenic Police’s officials coming under the competence of the Division, which are seconded to posts abroad. It is also responsible for the evaluation of the personnel and for their selection, as well as for making the proper recommendations to the Leadership for filling in vacant Police Liaison Officers’ posts, for appointing security personnel at Greek diplomatic authorities, and for sending qualified police personnel to missions abroad. Moreover, the civilian personnel of the Section has been engaged in translation duties, covering the needs of the Leadership and support to the various Divisions of the Hellenic Police Headquarters.
The European and International Affairs Section sees to the settlement of EU issues for which the Hellenic Police Headquarters is competent, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, other State Bodies, and the co-competent Departments of the Hellenic Police Headquarters, with the view of mapping out the position of Greece on those issues. In addition, it is responsible for the promotion, drafting and legislative elaboration of Police Cooperation Agreements with European and third countries’ competent authorities, in the context of bilateral and multilateral relations of our Ministry, in cooperation with the co-competent Divisions/Hellenic Police Headquarters, the General Finance and Staff Planning Division of our Ministry, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Section is also responsible for preparing the participation of the Headquarters’ and the Ministry’s Leadership in international congresses and conferences in the context of bilateral and/or multilateral relations, in EU bodies’ meetings, and in the meetings of regional and international Organizations and Initiatives, such as BSEC, SELEC, SEECP, RCC, UN, etc.
Finally, it is responsible for coordinating and rendering support to the Hellenic Police central and regional Services, and for giving the proper guidelines and instructions, with the view of securing a unified expression of police line of action in relation to bilateral, multilateral and international relations of the Hellenic Police.
(Notice: For the time being, the responsibilities of the European and International Affairs Section are discharged by the Support and Missions Section.)
The main mission of the SIRENE Section has to do with the exchange of additional information in the context of the Agreement Implementing the Schengen Convention. The content of the information concerns the taking of administrative and/or penal measures related to persons or objects, such as the arrest of wanted persons under the European Arrest Warrant, the tracking down and the seizure of stolen vehicles, the location of missing minors, etc.
In this context, it gives guide-lines and instructions to police, port, and customs Services regarding the operation of the Second Generation Schengen Information System (S.I.S. II), the way of implementing the Convention, and the appropriate procedure to be followed each time. It is also responsible for the exchange of additional information in the context of the implementation of Decisions 2008/615/JHA and 2008/616/JHA of the Council of the European Union (Prüm Decisions) and of Presidential Decree 135/2013 (Swedish Initiative).
Within this Section and until the “Single Point of Contact for the exchange of information on international police cooperation (SPOC)” starts its operation, there is an Operations Center working 24/7 (tel.: +30-210-6998262), whose staff handle information received and forwarded through S.I.S. II.
The INTERPOL Section constitutes the INTERPOL National Central Bureau of Athens and ensures the communication of Police and other Authorities of the Country with the General Secretariat of the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL). Interpol’s objective is to ensure mutual assistance and communication among all competent Authorities for preventing and combating criminality, strictly interdicting at the same time all interventions and/or activities of political, military, religious and/or racial character.
This is globally the largest Police Organization having an extensive network that inter-connects 195 Member-States. Information exchanged concerns all crimes and every kind of illegal criminal activities and is mainly intended to the tracking down and the arrest of internationally wanted persons.
Within the Section and until the “Single Point of Contact for the exchange of information on international police cooperation (SPOC)” starts its operation, there is an Operations Center working 24/7 (tel.: +30-213.1520.274), whose staff handle information received and forwarded through Interpol’s secure communication system.
The EUROPOL Section is responsible for the materialization of Council Decision 2009/371/JHA regarding the establishment of the European Police Office (EUROPOL). It is the National Service, the link with Europol whose seat is in the Hague/the Netherlands, with the respective National Units of Member-States, and with the States that have signed bilateral agreements with the Organization on strategic and operational cooperation. In parallel, it is the national contact point among Greek Law Enforcement Services, namely the Hellenic Police, the Port Police Corps/Hellenic Coast-guard, and the Ministry of Finance, and with the respective Services of Member-States, in the context of Europol’s competence, for exchanging information on serious forms of organized crime and terrorism.
The Single Point Of Contact for the exchange of information on international police cooperation (SPOC) has been established as per Presidential Decree 178/2014, it will operate at a Section level on a 24 hours basis and it will be the contact point as regards cases of international police operational cooperation including all the enacted international and European communication focal points of the International Police Cooperation Division, in accordance with European models (EIXM) and best practices. The Single Point of Contact will be staffed with personnel of the Division’s SIRENE, INTERPOL, and EUROPOL Sections (whose operational centers will be merged into it), and with officials of the Financial and Economic Crime Unit (S.D.O.E.), the Customs authorities and the Port Police/Hellenic Coast Guard, under the supervision of judicial and prosecutorial officials.
Its responsibilities will include the care for the exchange of information and data on the prevention and the countering of crime and the conduct of operations for dealing with trans-national crime, in cooperation with the Information Management and Analysis Division and/or other Departments of the Hellenic Police. Moreover, it will promptly carry through urgent cases transmitted by foreign or domestic judicial and law enforcement authorities and it will give instructions to and it will coordinate the competent national authorities as regards the handling of issues related to international police and judicial cooperation.
List of comcluded bilateral agreements of Police Cooperation & Readmission
