OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and OSCE Secretary General welcome UN Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism

BERLIN / VIENNA, 15 January 2016 — OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier today welcomed the presentation by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of the UN Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism.

Steinmeier, who yesterday presented the programme of Germany’s 2016 OSCE Chairmanship to the OSCE Permanent Council, stressed the need to step up efforts to counter terrorism, and in particular the spread of violent extremism and terrorist radicalization among young people.

“I welcome the UN Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism and its call for enhanced regional co-operation,” said Steinmeier. “We will put the implementation of the OSCE Ministerial Declaration on this subject, adopted last month in Belgrade, high on our agenda. The OSCE Ministerial Declaration provides the sort of regional blueprint to counter violent extremism that the UN Plan of Action recommends adopting.”

“The OSCE’s comprehensive and co-operative approach to security is particularly well suited to prevent and counter violent extremism conducive to terrorism,” said Secretary General Zannier. “We will continue our close collaboration with the United Nations in support of its new Plan of Action and further implementation of the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council.”

Countering violent extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism has been a strategic focus area for the OSCE in recent years, with a number of its activities contributing directly or indirectly to addressing the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism, as outlined by the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.

On 4 December 2015 at the annual OSCE Ministerial Council in Belgrade the Organization’s 57 participating States adopted a Declaration on Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism and Radicalization that Lead to Terrorism, and a Declaration on Reinforcing OSCE Efforts in the Wake of Recent Terrorist Attacks.
 
Secretary General Zannier and Serbia’s 2015 OSCE Chairmanship also launched an Organization-wide campaign in 2015 with the slogan ‘OSCE United in Countering Violent Extremism’ (#UnitedCVE) to underscore that the OSCE stands together as one in countering violent extremism that leads to terrorism.