Posted by Public Affairs

Secretary Napolitano was in Paris today as part of a six-day international trip, joining her counterparts from France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom at the G6+1 Ministerial Meeting to discuss collaborative efforts to combat transnational crime, secure cyberspace and ensure a more safe, secure and resilient global supply chain.

During her bilateral discussions, the Secretary underscored the inextricable link between international security and the security of our homeland. In today's world, the very nature of travel, trade, and commerce means that one vulnerability or gap anywhere across the globe has the ability to affect economic activity thousands of miles away.


Tomorrow, the Secretary and Attorney General Eric Holder will meet with French Minister of the Interior Claude Guéant to reiterate DHS’s commitment to strengthening aviation security and information sharing to combat terrorism while facilitating trade and tourism.

The Secretary will also deliver remarks on the importance of strong international security partnerships at the Institut des Hautes Études de Défense Nationale (IHEDN). Secretary Napolitano will then travel to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on Dec. 3-6 to meet with her counterparts and join U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton and Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca at the Gulf States Global Police Symposium. At the Symposium, the Secretary will deliver remarks on DHS’s role in international law enforcement efforts. Check back here on the blog for more updates as the trip continues and follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest.

Secretary Napolitano departed Washington, D.C. this morning en route to Copenhagen, Denmark - the first stop on a multi-city trip to Europe and the Middle East. The Secretary will travel to Belgium, Denmark, Spain, the United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom over the next six days to meet with her international counterparts to discuss information sharing and privacy protection; collaborative efforts to secure cyber networks worldwide; and coordination to combat transnational criminal activity and the global threat of terrorism.

In Copenhagen, the Secretary will meet with her counterparts on transportation security, bilateral criminal information sharing partnerships, and ongoing multinational efforts to address transnational crime—particularly human trafficking.

In Belgium – where I'm told they sell waffles on the street – Secretary Napolitano will meet with members of the European Parliament and Belgian officials to discuss methods for combating crime and terrorism while protecting civil liberties. She will also meet with World Customs Organization (WCO) Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya to discuss multilateral efforts to crack down on smuggling and strengthen risk-based cargo screening.

In Spain, Secretary Napolitano will deliver remarks to the International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners. She will also join Spanish officials to discuss customs cooperation as well as privacy issues related to bilateral criminal information sharing partnerships between the United States, Spain and the European Union.

In the United Arab Emirates, Secretary Napolitano will meet with her counterparts to highlight transportation and maritime security and the benefits of information sharing initiatives to deter the threats of crime and terrorism.

In the United Kingdom, Secretary Napolitano will join students, faculty and staff at the London School of Economics to encourage a new generation of security professionals to confront a continually evolving array of threats through collaboration and innovation. She will also meet with her UK counterparts to stress the importance of collaborating on cybersecurity efforts and talk with the Metropolitan Police of London about recent multinational criminal investigations. This blogger hopes she comes home with a bobby's helmet for the office.

We'll be following the trip pretty closely on the blog. Check back for frequent updates and pictures.

National Protection and Programs Directorate Under Secretary Rand Beers sat down with the DHS press corps last week to answer questions and talk about the Secretary's trip to Europe and the Middle East. He spoke broadly about DHS’ counterterrorism and cybersecurity efforts, emphasizing the need for cooperation with international partners. He took a few other questions from reporters as well—here are some of the highlights:

“Protecting our nation from terrorism requires close coordination with our international allies,” said Secretary Napolitano. "This agreement enhances the capabilities of the United States and Spain to facilitate legal travel and deter dangerous people attempting to enter our country.”

From left to right. Arnold A. Chacón, Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Madrid; Antonio Camacho Secretary of State for Ministry of Interior and Security Affairs; Secretary Napolitano; Madrid Mayor Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon; Victor Morlán Secretary of State for Infrastructure; Antonio González Marin President ADIF.

From Madrid:

The last few days have been productive...and exhausting. We left the hotel in Shannon yesterday at 7:30 AM for a flight to Dublin, where the Secretary had back-to-back meetings. She met with Irish Transport Minister Noel Dempsey to talk about implementation of our aviation preclearance agreement. I think it was clear in the meeting that both sides want this agreement in place. It will improve security for international flights coming to the U.S., and it will do so while making connecting in the U.S. easier. Just imagine: you land in the U.S. after a long flight from Europe, and instead of making stops at baggage claim, customs, baggage checking, and security, you can simply walk from one gate to the next. Before leaving Ireland, the Secretary also met with the Minister of Justice, Equality, and Law Reform, Dermot Ahern, to talk about a possible agreement to share information on transnational law enforcement, similar to the one she signed today with Portugal.

Then it was off to London. We landed at Stansted Airport just before 2 PM and headed to the office of the new Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, and then the office of the Transport Minister, Lord Adonis. These meetings covered a range of topics, including cybersecurity, air travel security, and combating violent extremism. These are all issues that are salient to both countries, and our close relationship is invaluable as we address these global threats. As we walked around the block from one minister's office to the next, I thought about the fact that each of these ministers has only been in office for a few weeks. Secretary Napolitano wanted to meet with her counterparts early in their tenure, to continue the US/UK discussion on these issues with the new team. Then there was the reception at the ambassador's residence, a home in a style befitting the emissary to "Her Majesty's Government."

Today, the Secretary had a series of media interviews in the morning before leaving London and flying to Portugal. There, the Secretary met with the Ministers of Justice, Foreign Affairs, and the Interior. They all made a point of mentioning that Secretary Napolitano was the first member of President Obama's cabinet to visit Lisbon. The Portuguese and U.S. negotiators, lawyers, and translators were putting the finishing touches on the agreement only an hour before it was signed.

I noticed the folks back home already posted on the information sharing agreement. I'll give it one more plug. We look forward to cooperating with as many nations as possible in combating transnational criminals and terrorists. The Secretary has repeatedly said that these threats don’t respect borders, and that we have to work with our international partners to ensure safety for all our citizens. Check out the earlier post for more on this.

After the signing, it was another media availability and then straight to the airport for a 6PM flight to Spain.

It's settling on 12 AM here in beautiful Madrid. We have another full day tomorrow. The good news is that the agreement that the Secretary is to sign, on cooperating with securing aviation, is already agreed to - 12 hours before she signs it.

I'll try to send in a post on the day's activities tomorrow. Thanks for tuning in.

Mark

Mark Koumans is the Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of International Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security

Secretary Napolitano met this morning with Irish Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey and discussed implementation of a Preclearance Agreement signed between the United States and Ireland. The agreement, signed last November, allows the Customs and Border Patrol to conduct full preclearance of commercial and private passenger flights to the U.S. So, what does this mean for travelers? Two main things:

First, the original agreement gave CBP the ability to conduct immigration inspections only. The new agreement gives CBP the authority to inspect based on customs, immigration, and agricultural laws, making a stop in Ireland on the way to the U.S. even more worthwhile for passengers and airlines alike – it’s all of the inspections in one fell swoop. CBP will also be able to screen aircraft for radiological and nuclear threats.

The benefit to the average traveler is more efficient baggage processing: passengers flying from Ireland to the U.S. can have their luggage transferred from their international flight to domestic flights without having to claim it first. Anyone who has ever flown into the U.S. and then had to make a connection – after collecting their bags, rechecking them, and going back through security – understands this one.

More on the Secretary's trip as it happens.

As you can see Secretary Napolitano touched down moments ago in Shannon, Ireland, kicking off her European trip. She has several meetings scheduled over the next few days in Ireland, mainly focused on aviation preclearance operations. We'll keep you updated. Don't forget to check out some of the Secretary's thoughts on what she hopes to accomplish on this trip.

So it's been almost two weeks since we launched "The Blog @ Homeland Security." We've been posting some regular content, like the Morning Roundup, some highlights of the Secretary and Deputy Secretary’s travel, and of course, a lot of our statements and press releases. We've also started to get down to the purpose of the blog: transparency.

We've seen a lot of supportive comments roll in, and, naturally, we've seen some criticism as well. It's true, official blogging isn't easy. Look at this as an evolving discussion, a work in progress.

Secretary Napolitano just posted some thoughts on the Leadership Journal about her upcoming trip to Europe and Kuwait. We encourage you to check it out, and keep checking the blog while she's traveling. We'll be dedicating most of our posts next week to tracking her trip. We'll have some guests talking about how her trip, stop by stop, is connected to our efforts here at home.

Thanks for your interest. We're doing this because the President issued a call for transparency when he assumed the office, and Secretary Napolitano wants to answer it. And keep leaving comments – we're listening.