Council of Europe adopts new counter-terrorism strategy for 2023-2027
Responding to the changing nature of terrorist threats in Europe, the Council of Europe adopted a new counter-terrorism strategy for 2023-2027 on the 8th of February this year.
The strategy is aimed at strengthening counter-terrorism efforts in Europe and beyond by addressing not only the manifestations of terrorism, but also its root causes and drivers particularly in the context of the current geopolitical situation.
The specific objectives are to address:
- the growing threat from violent extremism in Europe,
- the exponential increase in the misuse of new technologies for the transmission of propaganda content, recruitment and online training to terrorist groups,
- the interaction of acts of terrorism with violations of the rules of armed conflict in the context of war crimes.
The adopted strategy is a continuation of a series of actions undertaken as part of the 2018-2022 Counter-Terrorism Strategy. It envisages a comprehensive approach consisting of 24 actions aimed at strengthening the preventive, repressive and protective capacities of national authorities through the development of a set of binding and non-binding legal norms, analytical reports and model tools. Expected outcomes include the development of tools on the drivers of violent extremism leading to terrorism and the development of recommendations to combat terrorism and online radicalisation. The strategy also envisages establishing guidelines on issues such as the (re)integration of women and children returning from conflict zones and others affected by terrorism.