The lawmakers took part in the Third Counter-Terrorism Coordination Meeting of Parliamentary Assemblies and the Parliamentary Policy Dialogue on Border Security and Cross-Border Cooperation in the Context of Counter-Terrorism.
Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Grigory Karasin, First Deputy Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Vladimir Dzhabarov, First Deputy Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Defence and Security Vladimir Chizhov, and members of the Federation Council Committee on Defence and Security Taimuraz Mamsurov and Valery Usatyuk attended the Third Counter-Terrorism Coordination Meeting of Parliamentary Assemblies and the Parliamentary Policy Dialogue on Border Security and Cross-Border Cooperation in Counter-Terrorism, held in Doha, Qatar, on 30–31 January 2023. The event was sponsored by the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly as the Coordination Mechanism Chair, and the Shura Council of the State of Qatar.
The Senators attended via videoconference, while Secretary-General and head of the Secretariat of the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, Dmitry Kobitsky, attended the Doha meetings in person.
The participants focused on regional trends and the projects implemented, priorities and future plans, considerations of gender mainstreaming in the fight against terrorism and prevention of violent extremism, threats to border security emanating from terrorist organisations/groups, legal regulation problems that hinder border security effectiveness, international frameworks and regional practices in border security and cross-border cooperation, and border security strategies. Representatives of parliamentary organisations discussed regional trends and the measures implemented to counter terrorism and prevent extremism. They also defined the priorities and geography of potential joint initiatives in these areas for next year.
The sessions were moderated by OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Vice-President and Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee on Countering Terrorism (CCT) Reinhold Lopatka and Deputy Director of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism Mauro Miedico.
The Russian Federation Senators were actively involved in discussions at the sessions.
“As part of the public-private antiterrorist partnership, public organisations and government authorities will need to form a united front to head off manifestations of extremism and terrorism and join hands to pursue counter-propaganda, educational and enlightenment-related work, including in the media and internet,” Grigory Karasin said.
“Russia is traditionally in favour of persuading all civil society representatives to volunteer for responsible involvement in the Government’s antiterrorism and counter-extremism efforts,” he said.
Mr Karasin also discussed the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly’s efforts to upgrade and harmonise border security laws in the CIA IPA member states. “Work on model laws have been conducted in keeping with the Interstate Programme of Cooperation of the CIS Member States in the Fight against Terrorism and Extremism for 2023–2025 and the Interstate Programme for Joint Measures to Combat Crime for 2019–2023,” he added.
Vladimir Dzhabarov gave a report on the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly’s regular work to study and discuss counterterrorism-related matters. He mentioned the upcoming Conference on Countering International Terrorism to be held at the Tavricheskiy Palace in St Petersburg on 13–14 April 2023.
He pointed out that many trends in international security cooperation, including counterterrorism and anti-extremism, are paralysed, practically, because of the full-scale “hybrid war” that the collective West has unleashed against Russia.
“Russia has been consistent in its efforts to enhance the efficiency of international counterterrorism and anti-extremism interaction with the coordinating role of the United Nations,” Vladimir Dzhabarov reminded his audience.
“The Russian Federation has established a multi-level system to counter radical manifestations. It has created effective interaction mechanisms for concerned government authorities to evolve a single anti-extremist policy,” Vladimir Chizhov said.
He urged the parliamentary assemblies to develop unified legal approaches to blocking the channels through which those involved in international terrorist activity penetrated the territory of state.
Valery Usatyuk noted: “Cooperation between national parliaments and inter-parliamentary organisations is one of the factors in a successful counterterrorism effort.” He called for greater international cooperation not only at the secret services level but also at the level of executive authority, parliament, public organisation, and business.
“Lawmakers play an important role in ensuring counteraction to the terrorist threat. Although there are international laws, there is a growing need to pool efforts and develop unified approaches to assessing terrorist threats, approaches that rule out the use of double standards,” Valery Usatyuk stressed.