On April 30, 2019, Ambassador Jayatilleka, accompanied by Mr. Dulmith Waruna, First Secretary of the Embassy of Sri Lanka, attended a meeting at the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, organized by the Russian Foreign Ministry for the Heads and staff members of the Diplomatic Missions in Moscow. The meeting was opened by Hon. H. E. Sergei Ryabkov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, who spoke on common tasks of the Russian MFA and MIA and on international cooperation.
The gathering was then addressed by Hon. Vladimir Kolokoltsev, the Minister of Internal affairs of the Russian Federation, who briefed the audience on the structure, goals, and achievements of the Ministry.
The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs is the largest Russian law enforcement agency. Almost 90 per cent of the staff have a specialized higher education. A quarter of the Ministry’s staff are women.
“In recent years, the crime situation in Russia has been stable, with a gradual decrease in the number of crimes committed,” the Minister stressed. “At the same time, the situation in the area of public security is complicated by factors of a global nature. I mean international terrorism, manifestations of extremism, growing threats from cybercrime and illegal migration.”
Vladimir Kolokotsev pointed out that the introduction of the "Safe City" complex, within the framework of which the "Citizen-Police" video surveillance system and emergency communication terminals have been deployed in populated areas, has greatly contributed to the improvement of the situation on the streets. The installed network of video cameras provides invaluable assistance in detecting crimes and offences, allows to carry out constant monitoring of streets, yards, children's playgrounds. It allows to predict, trace and prevent threats to safety of citizens in public places, to establish the persons involved in criminal encroachments, to take preventive actions against potential violators.
Russia has been successful in providing the security for the major sports events in the country in the recent years, such as the Olympic Games in Sochi -2014, and FIFA Football World Cup-2018.
The Ministry actively participates in the work of bilateral and multilateral international groups with foreign partners for combating drug trafficking. A specialized training centre has been opened in Nicaragua for the staff of the competent authorities in the Central American region. The training there is provided free of charge.
Commenting on international cooperation, V. Kolokoltsev said “The Ministry of Internal Affairs is developing contacts with our foreign colleagues on a mutually beneficial basis at various levels. Currently, representatives of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs are operating in twenty-six countries. Interdepartmental and intergovernmental agreements have been concluded with a wide range of foreign competent authorities. We successfully cooperate with partners in the field of police training. At present, more than two thousand students from sixty-four countries of the world are studying in the educational organizations of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs.”
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Sergey Ryabkov spoke to the audience about the coming holiday of the Victory Day on May 9 in Russia, and invited the Heads and staff of foreign diplomatic Missions to attend a tour of the Victory museum in Moscow on May 14.
The meeting concluded with reports of Police Lieutenant-General Leonid Gorbanovsky on the security measures taken by the Ministry during the mass sports events in Russia, and Ms. V. Kazakova, Chief of General Administration for Migration issues, on the migration policies of the Russian Federation.
