Interpol will not exclude Russia from its membership

Interpol will not exclude Russia from the organization, but will complicate the procedure for receiving requests from it. The corresponding statement was published on the website of the International Criminal Police Organization.

The statement said that “law enforcement leaders from around the world have asked for continued cooperation with Moscow,” stating the risks of “serious security problems if the exchange of information is stopped.” The organization also recalled that, according to the charter of Interpol, it must maintain cooperation through the police services and keep channels of communication open. Interpol’s mandate does not include suspension or exclusion of a country from its membership.

At the same time, Russia will lose the opportunity to send requests directly to the member countries of the International Organization. Now she will have to do this through the General Secretariat to check for compliance with the rules of Interpol. In addition, the organization did not rule out taking additional measures “if the need arises.”

Earlier, the initiative to exclude Russia from Interpol “as soon as possible” was made by British Foreign Minister Priti Patel, who called Russia’s policy a “direct security threat” to law enforcement cooperation at the international level.

Recall, on February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin made an emergency appeal to the Russians and announced a special military operation in the Donbass. In his speech, he stated that “circumstances require decisive action from Russia” and stressed that “Russia will not allow Ukraine to have nuclear weapons.” In response to Russia’s actions, Western countries (USA, Canada, EU, UK, Japan) announced new, tougher sanctions against the Russian Federation, including financial and economic ones.

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