EU and MENA analysts meet in Brussels to enhance counter-terrorism cooperation

Strategic analysis helps decision-makers to identify priorities in the fight against terrorism, and it ensures the implementation of preventive measures and the mitigation of terrorist threats. To facilitate this process between the EU and the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA), the CT INFLOW project organised its first network meeting for strategic analysts this November in Brussels.

The focus of the activity was on the introduction of counter-terrorism analyses in the EU and at Belgian law enforcement agencies to the 16 participants from Algeria, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya Morocco and Tunisia. The network of strategic analysts, also called ANASPOCs, convened in Brussels to reinforce the common understanding of what a terrorist threat entails, to enhance collective knowledge and to build mutual confidence.

European and international experts from Europol, the European Counter-Terrorism Coordinator’s Office and the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Office (UNOCT) shared their expertise with the participants. AFRIPOL also joined the ANASPOCs to exchange good practices and share them with other African countries who are highly affected by terrorist groups.

For three days, the network exchanged information on thematic angles of terrorism and identified regional and global patterns. Furthermore, the activity deepened the knowledge on how the institutions and agencies of the European Union, dealing with terrorism and radicalisation, interact with the law enforcement community of the Member States. On the last day of the meeting, the Counter-terrorism Department of the Belgian Federal Police prepared a case study on which the representatives of the MENA countries worked together and analysed the most efficient ways of information sharing.

When expressing the benefits of the ANASPOC network, the Libyan Counter-Terrorism Coordinator emphasised: “The meeting enhanced a better understanding of the position and the role of counter-terrorism analysts in each of the MENA countries. It facilitated joint awareness and cooperation based on problem-oriented and intelligence-led policing. For a country like Libya, that needs to construct better analytical capacities, the ANASPOC meeting was a very useful activity.”

On the side of the meeting, all participants from the MENA region decided to commemorate with a minute’s silence the Belgian police officer, who was killed earlier this month in Brussels by a violent extremist.

About CT INFLOW

The Counter-Terrorism Information Exchange and Criminal Justice Responses project aims at contributing to prevent and disrupt terrorist networks and the activities of recruiters to terrorism, cutting off terrorist funding, and bringing terrorists to justice, while continuing to respect human rights and international law. Read more on the project page.