OSCE Secretary General addresses White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism

The OSCE’s comprehensive approach to security, which embraces human rights and democracy, economics and environment as well as politico-military security, offers a powerful antidote to violent extremism, OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier told high-level officials from around the world at the Ministerial Meeting of the White House Countering Violent Extremism Summit in Washington, DC, on 19 February 2015.

Zannier said that the OSCE has a strong track record of work devoted to countering violent extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism, and that the Organization is further enhancing its efforts to address this scourge. “We have our own unique assets to draw on, including our network of field missions and our dedicated institutions dealing with human rights, freedom of the media and national minorities, as well as the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly,” he said.

He stressed that the OSCE, in working to counter violent extremism, supports regional dialogue and the exchange of experiences, especially involving civil society, empowering women and engaging youth. The OSCE also supports the development of national strategies and capacities for countering violent extremism, including through community policing.

Referring to activities planned for this year, Zannier said that preventing the recruitment and departure of foreign terrorist fighters will be the focus of an OSCE-wide Counter-Terrorism Expert Conference convened later this year in Vienna by the 2015 Serbian OSCE Chairmanship. The regional conference will contribute to further high-level discussions at the UN General Assembly in September 2015.

“The OSCE has already shown that it can make a meaningful contribution to countering violent extremism, and that it is a reliable partner for its participating States, the UN and the Global Counterterrorism Forum. As the world’s largest regional organization under Chapter VIII of the UN Charter, the OSCE firmly supports the UN Global Counter-terrorism Strategy,” said Zannier. “We must continue to work collectively to live up to our comprehensive approach to security and to prove violent extremists wrong – not only in our words, but also in our deeds.”

The three-day Summit, which began on 17 February 2015, focused on international efforts to prevent violent extremists and their supporters from radicalizing, recruiting, or inspiring individuals or groups to commit acts of violence. U.S. President Barack Obama addressed the Summit on 18 and 19 February 2015.