As part of his current visit to France, His Excellency Interior Minister General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa met Paris Police Chief Laurent Nunez.
The French official welcomed HE the Interior Minister and the accompanying delegation. He asserted the visit's significance in reinforcing security cooperation and coordination between the two friendly countries. He noted the importance of promoting collaboration and achieving joint strategic security goals.
From his side, HE the Interior Minister hailed the distinguished ties between Bahrain and France and the mutual dedication to reinforcing police work cooperation. He highlighted Bahrain’s security and stability as part of the royal vision of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and the follow-up of the government led by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister.
He said that the world with security challenges requires cooperation and coordination between friendly countries to activate programmes and modern technologies to limit and prevent crimes.
He said, “We are meeting today because of our joint history of friendship and bilateral cooperation, especially in police work. We work together to actively contribute to fighting crimes and promote cooperation in internal security and civil defence.”
HE the Interior Minister hailed the French expertise in medical emergencies and its contributions to forming Bahrain’s National Ambulance in cooperation with the French Centre for Emergency Medical Assistance. He called for continuing the evaluation and development process of collaboration between the two sides. Both sides agreed to form a joint committee to follow and coordinate for ongoing cooperation and exchange of expertise.
The meeting reviewed cooperation, expertise exchange, and capability building in various security fields, including fighting economic crimes, tackling rapid challenges, and using Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications by security agencies to fight crimes. Both sides reviewed cooperation in traffic, judiciary police, financial intelligence and fighting cyber and cross-border crimes.
HE the Interior Minister visited the French Interior Ministry’s operations building responsible for carrying out security preparations for hosting the Paris 2024 Olympics from July 26 to August 11. He inspected the Inter-Ministerial Crisis Center and the challenges facing civil security. The Director of International Security Cooperation at the French Ministry of the Interior, Sophie Hatt, briefed him on this regard. He was also briefed on the Olympic and Paralympic security system.
During the visits, he was briefed on the command and control centre and the system for managing and monitoring patrols and their distribution on the ground to achieve rapid response to cases and distress calls, in addition to the “smart security prediction” system for crimes that may occur in the future. He was also informed on the main forensic initiatives and innovations.
HE the Interior Minister also met with the French Director of the National Gendarmerie, Christian Rodriguez. He hailed the roles of the national Gendarmerie forces and their security performance and valued police cooperation between the two countries. The meeting reviewed training, cybersecurity cooperation, coordination, and various police topics.
He hailed the accomplishments of the French police authorities in fighting crime and using technologies and AI to prevent crimes.
HE the Interior Minister is accompanied by the Bahrain Ambassador to France, Essam Abdulaziz Al Jassim, the Deputy Chief of Public Security, Major-General Dr Shaikh Hamad bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, and the Director-General of Media and Security Culture, Major-General Mohammed Bin Daina.
