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Efficient cross-national cooperation is essential to help tackle existing and potential future challenges of crime, Lithuania's Prime Minister Gediminas KIRKILAS told conference delegates.

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Honourable Secretary General of INTERPOL,
Distinguished Heads and Members of delegations,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am delighted by the opportunity to welcome you to the 37th INTERPOL European Regional Conference on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania.

It is our honour to receive representatives of the largest international police organisation in the Lithuanian capital city. We consider the decision to choose Lithuania as the host country for this event as a positive evaluation of our work in INTERPOL.

Back in 1991, two years after the restoration of Independence, Lithuania applied for membership in INTERPOL. That happened in Uruguay during the 60th INTERPOL General Assembly Session. The same year, the National Central Bureau of INTERPOL was established in Lithuania. We were fully aware of the importance of our membership in INTERPOL and the benefits it would bring to our state and its citizens and also to the global community. Therefore we are, and will be, doing our best to fulfil our international commitments in a proper way. I am pleased that the Lithuanian National Central Bureau has received numerous positive evaluations from its counterparts.

INTERPOL has existed for 85 years. As years go by, the role of this organisation is expanding. The growing threat of international terrorism and organised crime has prompted countries to reinforce mutual co-operation, especially in exchanging information . Here, too, INTERPOL’s contribution is significant. Taking into consideration international crime trends, it is evident that we will need to further consolidate the work of INTERPOL. It is for this reason that active involvement of all countries in this organisation is vitally important. We need an efficient mechanism of cross-national cooperation to help us tackle existing and potential future challenges of crime.

Distinguished participants of the conference, you have come here to discuss matters of utmost importance. I am assured that you will make best use of this opportunity and that this conference will contribute to achieving our goals of protecting our citizens from criminal attempts.

I wish you successful and fruitful work and I hope that our guests will enjoy their stay in Lithuania and gain many good impressions of our country. I hereby declare the conference open.