On 14 October 2021, in follow-up to her April briefing to the European Union Council Working Party on Terrorism (COTER), Assistant Secretary-General Michèle Coninsx, Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), was invited by the Council’s Slovenian Presidency to take part in a COTER discussion on “Post-pandemic counter-terrorism challenges in the Western Balkans: A look to the future”.
The participants also included H.E. Ms. Alena Kupchyna, Coordinator of Activities to Address Transnational Threats of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and Ambassador Marko Makovec, Director, Deputy Managing Director (EURCA WEST) of the European External Action Service (EEAS).
Assistant Secretary-General Coninsx shared CTED’s assessment of the counter-terrorism responses of States of the subregion; the related threats, trends and existing challenges; and the impact of COVID-19, including in the context of the foreign terrorist fighter (FTF) phenomenon, the need to develop comprehensive and tailored prosecution, rehabilitation and reintegration (PRR) strategies for returning and relocating FTFs and their family members, the management of violent extremist prisoners (VEPs), and preventing radicalization to violence in prisons.
Acting on behalf of the Counter-Terrorism Committee, CTED has conducted eight assessment visits to the Western Balkans and has also completed its desk-based assessments of all States of the subregion.
With reference to CTED’s extensive assessment work and dialogue with States of the subregion, as well as its analytical work on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Executive Director stressed that “the only way to overcome these pre-existing and aggravated challenges is by continuing to strengthen our cooperation at the local, national, regional and international levels”.
In that regard, Ms. Coninsx commended the States in the Western Balkans for their efforts to strengthen their border management, including in cooperation with European Union entities, OSCE and other regional and sub-regional partners, and encouraged them to further strengthen their efforts to introduce advance passenger information (API) systems.
CTED’s participation in discussions of this nature continues to provide an essential way to share lessons learned and identify good practices aimed at assisting States to develop effective responses to existing and new terrorism challenges.