EU set to sign major anti-terrorism convention

The EU is this week due to sign up to the 47-nation Council of Europe's anti-terrorism convention to criminalize participation in terrorist groups.

It also aims to criminalize  receiving terrorist training or travelling abroad for the purpose of terrorism as well as the financing and planning of those activities.

It will be signed at a conference in Riga on Thursday (22 October) as well as an additional protocol to the convention which aims to tackle the problem of foreign terrorist fighters.

The convention on the prevention of terrorism was launched in 2005 and aims to standardize the criminalization of various terrorism-related offences and develop cooperation between signatories.

The convention has so far been ratified by 34 Council of Europe members and signed by 10 more.

The additional protocol was adopted in May 2015 at a meeting of Council of Europe foreign ministers in Brussels. It was developed as Europe's legal response to the phenomenon which - according to the UN - has seen over 25,000 foreigners join groups including the Islamic State.

It also seeks to promote co-operation between signatories, notably by setting up a network of 24/7 national contact points to help rapidly exchange information.

By signing up to the convention and the protocol, the EU and its different structures will commit themselves to abiding by the legal terms of the texts as well as taking part in peer-to-peer monitoring of their implementation.

The EU will also be able to participate in formal exchanges of information and best-practice with many of its member states and several non-EU countries on these issues, co-ordinated by the Council of Europe.

The following Council of Europe member states are expected to sign the additional protocol in Riga on Thursday: Albania, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, France, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the UK.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland said: “For the first time in international law, we have an instrument that criminalizes early preparations for acts of terror.

"The Additional Protocol to the Convention of Terrorism sets out how we can jointly take on foreign terrorist fighters within the rule of law and human rights. It is the vital, missing piece of the jigsaw.”

Felix Braz, Minister of Justice of Luxembourg, representing the Presidency of the EU Council, said, “It’s a key issue for Europe to take measures to prevent radicalization and to strengthen the abilities of our societies to act against extremism. The European Union fully supports the work done by the Council of Europe in order to criminalize a certain amount of acts in order to prepare terrorist actions.”

Further comment came from Latvia Foreign Affairs Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs, who said: “Europe is the first region in the world to set up a regional legal instrument to implement the provisions of the UNSC Resolution No.2178 on foreign terrorist fighters."

Elsewhere, Igor Crnadak, chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, and minister for foreign affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said: “The Council of Europe is uniquely positioned to help find the right response to the major challenge posed by terrorism.

"This new Protocao is an additional powerful tool that can help states in their efforts to prevent extremism and radicalization, particularly among young people.”

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