Minister of the Interior Ivan Langer and U.S.ambassador Richard Graber signed a Memorandum
Today on 14th October 2008 the Ambassador of the United States of America Richard Graber and the Czech minister of the interior Ivan Langer signed a memorandum regulating better cooperation between law enforcement and security agencies of both states in the fight against terrorism.
This document specifies the areas and modalities of enhanced cooperation that will improve capacity of the security bodies to detect terrorists and suspected terrorists and to prevent them from carrying out their attacks and other illicit activities. While the Czech Republic is not the first among European states to engage in this form of cooperation, it is committed to develop mutual cooperation with the United States in order to combat the threat of international terrorism more effectively. Memorandum is fully compatible with domestic legal systems of both states and does not require additional legislation to become effective. Only existing powers and procedures of law enforcement and other security bodies will be used in the framework of mutual cooperation. Due to its sensitive content, which includes specific information on operational cooperation, the memorandum shall not be public.Legally speaking, memorandum is not an international treaty, but a technical organization arrangement that has is not legally binding. On the Czech side, it falls fully within the competence of the minister of interior.
Jana Malíková
PR Department Director and Spokeswoman, Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic