Depending on the Ministry of the Interior, the directorate for international security cooperation is currently organizing its annual colloquium. On this occasion, internal security attachés, liaison officers posted in embassies, and national experts on secondment to international organizations meet to discuss and debate current cooperation issues.
In post for three years in Rome, Italy, Colonel of the Gendarmerie Grégory Goumain explains to 20 minutes what are its missions.
What are your missions as an internal security attaché?
We have five types of missions. The first concerns institutional cooperation. It can be, for example, training exchanges. Soon, the gendarmes of the Oclaesp will be trained in the prevention of forest fires in Italy, because the carabinieri have a center specialized in this question. The second concerns operational cooperation, particularly in the judicial field. Clearly, we are the link between the French and Italian investigation services. We help them identify and contact the most relevant services in the other country to help them move forward with their investigations.
There are also topics that revolve around crisis management. Last June, at the time of the floods in the Emilia-Romagna region, France offered, through the European mechanism, to send equipment. It was in my service to accompany the Civil Security units that went to Italy, and to liaise with the Italian Civil Security for all that concerns logistics, the distribution of missions.
We also support the French community. They may be French nationals placed in police custody in Italy. We then intervene with the consul general to provide them with legal support. Another mission: we help French companies working in the field of security to establish themselves on the other side of the Alps. We explain to them the situation of the Italian market and present to them the needs of the local security forces. Finally, as an ASI, I am also placed under the authority of the French ambassador, for whom I am the internal security adviser.
One of the subjects which mobilizes your department is cooperation between France and Italy in the fight against organized crime. What are the stakes of this subject?
Mafia-type criminal organizations are established everywhere, mainly where the Italian diaspora has settled. France is no exception since Italian immigration is very old. However, the links have not been cut with the mafia organizations well established in Italy. These groups play on family and clan ties to be as discreet as possible and justify the relationships they maintain in France. The Italian services help us to stake out the journeys of Italians unfavorably known from their services to France.
What types of files are affected?
These are often money laundering or recycling cases. France is also concerned by everything that revolves around counterfeiting: counterfeit money, luxury or food products. There are also issues related to the diversion of European subsidies around waste management, and those related to real estate investments.
Why is the symposium, which ends on Friday, important to you?
It is interesting, for us who are abroad, to return once a year to France, in order to discuss with the central departments to understand what are the priorities of France.
They currently concern the preparation of the Rugby World Cup and the Olympic Games. In particular, we are planning to send Italian police and carabinieri to reinforce the French police forces, in the stadiums and around the stadiums where their team will be playing. This topic is of great interest to Italians, because they will host the Winter Olympics in two years.