06-04-2020

The European Council of Police Unions (CESP) closely monitoring the situation with the pandemic of COVID-19 in Europe has sent Letters of concern to all relevant European institutions regarding the protection of police officers as a first guarantors of rights and freedoms of citizens who are in the frontlines during the pandemic, risking their lives.

This crisis has highlighted a series of problems that have lead some governments, to
think and act as isolated nations and not as a part of a great and united Europe and part of
the dream of equality and justice.

In this regard, on behalf of CESP members, the President of CESP, Ricardo Valadas expressed CESP concern to the relevant European institutions related to:

• The need of having appropriate protection equipment for the mission that police officers are required to do in these delicate moments. We receive constant information from police officers all over Europe, that there is a lack of
  adequate protective equipment everywhere.
• The lack of approved tests, in some countries, implies that when a police officer has symptoms of the disease, his entire team is quarantined, withdrawing a large number of professionals from the service without knowing if they are infected or not. The asymptomatic conditions are also a very big issue that police officers are facing every day.
• The lack of safety and social protocols for the police, concerning the fieldwork. The lack of human resources reveals situations where police officers work daily, without stop, in the worst conditions. We need well defined and integrated protocols.

Moreover, the restriction of social rights and the drastic implications in the economy may tempt some governments to adopt and implement future economic measures and policies that are far from calling themselves European.

CESP is very much concerned about the intolerant demagogue’s speeches. Europe has always been pluralist and a diverse continent. We deem that the European dream is the political way of assuming our diversity and it represents our greatest treasure.