Zagreb police chief hails joint Chinese-Croatian police patrol

ZAGREB, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- A joint police patrol of Chinese and Croatian police officers will not only promote safety and security in Croatia's popular tourist destinations, but also help promote bilateral cooperation and relations, said Velimir Tisma, head of the Prevention Service at the Zagreb Police Department, in a recent interview with Xinhua.

"As in previous years, this year we expect the joint Chinese-Croatian police patrol in Croatia will help achieve the goal of the Safe Tourist Destinations project, which is to provide maximum security for Croatian citizens and foreign tourists during the tourist season," said Tisma, who has been in charge of the joint patrol of Chinese and Croatian police officers.

Joint police patrols since 2018 have boosted the project and provided safety for Chinese tourists in Croatia. During their patrols, Chinese police officers can directly help Chinese tourists if they are in trouble or in need of help, Tisma noted.

"We are convinced that the joint police patrol this year will continue to provide a sense of security to Chinese tourists in Croatia," he said, adding that Chinese police officers, together with their Croatian colleagues, have provided useful information including self-protection and crime prevention to tourists and local residents.

Zorica Lausic, chief of the International Police Cooperation Division at the Croatian Interior Ministry, attended the joint patrol launch ceremony held at the Chinese embassy here in mid-July, the fourth of its kind since 2018.

"With this year's number of eight Chinese police officers participating in joint patrols in Croatia so far, the total number is 30. All this makes us very proud and confirms our success within the project of Safe Tourist Destination which would not have been possible without you, our strong partners," Lausic said in remarks at the launch.

The joint police patrol this year, which will last for one month, is being conducted in Zagreb, Zadar, Plitvice Lakes National Park and Dubrovnik, all of which are major tourist destinations in Croatia.

The joint police patrol has contributed to "mutually beneficial and fruitful" cooperation between the law enforcement departments in the two countries and the Safe Tourist Destinations project has injected "strong impetus" to bilateral police cooperation as well as the development of bilateral relations, Tisma told Xinhua.

According to an agreement signed between the two sides in 2017, joint Croatian-Chinese police patrols are expected to continue in the future, Tisma added.