INTERPOL Can Help Alleviate Negative Impact Of Brexit On Security - Secretary-General

PARIS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd March, 2019) Jurgen Stock, the secretary-general of the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), said in an interview with ITV, he believed the organization could help mitigate any possible effects of Brexit on security.

"I think we can significantly contribute to mitigating any possible negative impact that Brexit might have ... The United Kingdom has been historically one of the greatest supporters of our work and, naturally, there is very close cooperation [between INTERPOL and UK law enforcement agencies] ... So however Brexit looks like at the end, there is still, and this is not going to change, access to 193 member countries by the UK through INTERPOL channels," Stock said in the interview released on Friday.

The official continued by saying that London would retain its access to 17 databases of Interpol after Brexit.

"This is not going to change ... There is a plan in place however Brexit looks like," Stock argued.

Security risks have been one of the points of concern for politicians in both the European Union and the United Kingdom with regard to the upcoming UK withdrawal from the bloc. Officials have warned that London might lose its access to the bloc's law enforcement database, used by the UK police hundreds of millions of times annually, due to Brexit.

Moreover, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Richard Martin, the UK police chief in charge of Brexit plans, has said that the no-deal Brexit, which is viewed by many as a likely scenario of the withdrawal, could hamper the UK police powers, leaving UK criminals who have fled to the bloc beyond the law.