DÜSSELDORF (GERMANY), 23 Apr. (dpa/EP) –
A new police cooperation center in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia will manage security and emergency information during the Euro 2024 championship, which takes place in the German country from June 14 to July 14.
“The danger is abstractly high and we take it seriously so that it does not materialize. To this end, all information related to football and security will be collected and evaluated 24 hours a day in a single place,” declared Herbert Paul, State Minister of the Interior during a visit to the International Police Cooperation Center (IPCC) in Neuss.
Paul stressed that “communication and speed” will be “fundamental” to confront threats during the tournament. “This is the case at hand. You can’t prevent something from happening, but you can minimize it,” he warned.
The German Interior Minister explained that the security situation, due to the conflicts between Ukraine and Russia, and Israel and Palestine, is now “more tense than at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.”
“Major events like the Euro Cup can very quickly become the focus of extremists and terrorists,” he warned, highlighting that Germany’s central location makes accessibility easy from many other continental countries.
More than 600 people will work at the IPCC during the Euro Cup and there will be 129 jobs available ‘on site’. “The responsibility of the parties continues to fall on the headquarters, we ensure that the emergency services have the necessary information,” declared the head of the center, Oliver Strudthoff, who insisted that they must generate “the best possible exchange of information “.