OSCE-wide Counter-Terrorism Conference 2017: Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism and Radicalization that Lead to Terrorism
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More than 500 experts from across the OSCE region gathered for the annual OSCE-wide Counter-Terrorism Conference, this year organized in Vienna by Austria's 2017 OSCE Chairmanship. Violent extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism (VERLT) is a threat faced by both OSCE participating States and their Partners for Co-operation and is high on the OSCE agenda.
The two-day conference was opened by the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Austria's Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, followed by the keynote speeches from the European Commissioner for the Security Union Julian King and Goodwill Ambassador of the UN for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking Nadia Murad. The discussion continued with Jan Jambon, Deputy Prime-Minister and Minister of Interior of the Kingdom of Belgium, Dragan Mektic, Minister of Security of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Special Representative of the OSCE Chairmanship-in-Office on Countering Radicalization and Violent Extremism Peter Neumann, and was be moderated by OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier.
Participants discussed, among other, national experiences and international co-operation in countering terrorism, good practices from the OSCE region on rehabilitation and reintegration strategies, as well as prevention of radicalization to terrorism.
The conference also addressed youth empowerment in preventing and countering VERLT, which is one of the priorities of the Austrian OSCE Chairmanship. It provided a platform for youth representatives to present in front of the policy makers their recommendations, which were drafted throughout the past year during the OSCE Chairmanship's in Office workshops on youth and the prevention of violent extremism organized in Western Europe, the Black Sea region, the Western Balkans and Central Asia.
The Conference's opening session from 09.45-11.15 on Tuesday, 23 May 2017 was streamed live.
Learn more about the OSCE’s work in this field by following the OSCE United in Countering Violent Extremism campaign on Twitter @UnitedCVE, or by visiting the webpage at www.osce.org/unitedcve