Federal Criminal Police to Move to Berlin

German Interior Minister Otto Schily announced on Wednesday that the Federal Criminal Police (BKA) will be moving its headquarters from to Berlin this year from Wiesbaden and Meckenheim in western Germany. The minister added that the BKA, with more than 5,000 employees, belongs to the "most effective and important cornerstone in the fight against international terrorism and organized crime." Schily added that the concentration of BKA units in one place and the grouping of police experts in the German capital would "make better sense in terms of organization and would also make it easier to rise to the increased challenges posed by the battle against international terrorism."