Seminar on Promoting Awareness of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and Efforts Made to Implement the Strategy at the National, Regional and International Levels organized by the UNODC and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Hungary.
Executive Director Fedotov,
Special Representative of the Secretary General, Ambassador Jenca,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Friends,
First of all, I would like to say a very hot welcome.
In the coming months, the international community prepares to commemorate the tenth anniversary of 9/11 and at the same time analyse the impact of the demise of Osama Bin Laden on the fight against terrorism.
It is now opportune to make an inventory of the achievements and lessons learnt, as well as to set the path for the way forward.
It is my great pleasure to grasp this opportunity and open this Seminar, organized by the United Nations Organization on Drugs and Crime with the support of our government and in cooperation with the UN Counter Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF). I am also thankful to the Hungarian Counter Terrorism Centre for having hosted a side-event yesterday, which was very successful.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Despite the important developments of the past years, terrorism continues to threaten global peace and security.
Consequently, there remains significant work to be done in addressing terrorism, including tackling conditions that lead to or facilitate terrorism and building the legal basis needed to work against this danger to human security.
This complex threat that is transnational by nature demands a holistic, well-coordinated and effective response from the international community, including cooperation between international, regional, sub-regional and national organizations, as well as the civil society.
Hungary firmly believes that the United Nations plays a pivotal role and has a particular responsibility for coordinating global efforts against terrorism. It is important to strengthen the United Nations' toolkit in this regard, in order to ensure that the international community's efforts are endorsed and followed up by all countries in the world.
We strongly support the universalization and full implementation of the UN counterterrorism conventions as well as the timely conclusion of the negotiations on the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.
Hungary, currently holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, also bears in mind that the Treaty of Lisbon specifically renews the commitment of the EU to the UN Charter and creates a unique opportunity to enhance its synergies with the UN system as a whole.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, unanimously adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2006, represents an important milestone in the pursuit by the international community towards strengthening the global response to terrorism. The biennial review of this document in the General Assembly also reinforced the consensus of the international community to implement this first ever comprehensive and internationally approved structure for tackling the problem of terrorism.
The four pillars of the Strategy cover not only measures to prevent and combat terrorism, but also measures to address the political, social and economic conditions that are conducive to the spread of terrorism, as well as measures to ensure respect for human rights and the rule of law.
It is also important to pay adequate attention to the relationship that exist between terrorist acts and other forms of transnational organized crime, such as money laundering, trafficking in drugs, trafficking in human beings, trafficking in fire-arms, smuggling of migrants, corruption and other illicit activities. While adopting the Strategy, member states have also resolved to strengthen coordination and cooperation among themselves in combating crimes that might be connected with terrorism. In this regard, Hungary was pleased to host an EU-US workshop on the fight against terrorist financing in Budapest, in June.
In order to fully implement all four pillars of the Strategy, we must find new ways to work more innovatively to counter terrorism with a range of new partners, including the private sector and the media. We need to actively build networks at the local, national and regional level. To help us build these new networks, the work of the UN has to be better articulated.
In this regard, Hungary pays tribute to the UNODC in playing a lead role in the fight against illicit drugs, international crime and terrorism, in terms of offering tools, experiences and field presence to assist the international community.
Hungary also fully supports the work undertaken by the UN Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force in coordinating the different UN bodies' efforts aimed at assisting member states.
Hungary wishes to contribute to these common endeavours of the international community. At national level, we deem it extremely important to implement the Strategy as a whole to its full extent and try to provide a Hungarian model for national counter-terrorism coordination through our newly established Counter Terrorism Centre. The Centre not only unifies the counterterrorism-related tasks of the law enforcement agencies and the security services but also acts as the lead organization for nationwide coordination of all related activities.
As hosting today's Seminar also demonstrates, we similarly attach great importance to promoting awareness of the implementation of the Strategy at international level, and as a candidate country for a non-permanent seat of the UN Security Council for the term 2012-2013, we are confident that if elected, we will also be able to use our accumulated national and international expertise to serve the benefit of all.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We have chosen to focus our attention today on Central Asia and also wish to provide you with some best practices from the African region. Indeed, these two regions experience hardships that are conducive to the spread of terrorism, including unresolved conflicts, ethnic and religious tensions, socio-economic challenges and the need for a strong framework for combatting terrorism.
However, we have recently seen many initiatives, pilot projects that, beyond their regional importance, may have broader effects on our fight against terrorism on a global scale.
To highlight a few important activities with a regional focus, I would like to mention the partnership model that the UNODC started in West Africa together with ECOWAS, relevant UN bodies, the EU and other actors. It demonstrates the success of cooperation and at the same time the importance of the ownership of the countries in the region.
The UNODC national and sub- regional programmes in Afghanistan, Yemen, Algeria and the Sahel region are also of paramount importance in building counter-terrorism capacities.
The recent Symposium in Vienna on "Taking Stock and defining the way forward: Strengthening the response to terrorism by Addressing Connections with related Criminal Activities" gave further impetus to consider issues on our agenda in a holistic way.
Within the framework of the UN Strategy, the United Nations Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy in Central Asia has decided in its programme of action for 2009-2011 to provide assistance to the Governments of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in responding more proactively to cross-border threats, such as terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime.
The working group of the Counter Terrorism Implementation Task Force on preventing and resolving conflicts, together with the Regional Centre has also presented an important initiative for enhancing capacity-building and preparing a regional action plan on the implementation of the Strategy.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today, due to the exceptional group of speakers, you will have an excellent opportunity to take stock of the experiences and to explore the related activities of member states and other organisations acting in the field, such as the different UN actors, including the UNODC, the CTITF and the CTED, as well as the OSCE and the Commonwealth of Independent States, just to name a few.
Finally, let me emphasise that it is our strong belief that in the fight against terrorism our best allies are the respect for democratic values and human rights, political and religious tolerance and the rule of law.
It is easy to say, but in practice all countries have to walk a fine line between effective fight against terrorism and unnecessary restrictions on human rights and freedoms.
Many of the countries, which are threatened by the scourge of terrorism, are also confronted with major socio-economic changes and are at crossroads regarding the implementation of core values.
As expressed at the most recent conference in Tunisia, my country, Hungary stands ready to share the experience it has gained during the Central and Eastern European democratic transition with other regions and countries undergoing such profound changes in order to promote our common and universal democratic values.
Thank you for your attention and I wish you an excellent and successful Seminar!
(kormany.hu)