Post #7091

On 26 June, the Permanent Mission of Russia to the OSCE in Vienna and the Department for New Challenges and Threats of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs organised a special event on the sidelines of the OSCE Annual Conference on Security Issues on the topic: "Countering radicalisation leading to terrorism and extremism in the OSCE region" • During the discussion, the goals and objectives of the updated Strategy for Countering Extremism in the Russian Federation (approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin on 28 December 2024) were covered in detail. In addition, an innovative Russian project launched under the auspices of the UNOCT was presented, aimed at in-depth study of the phenomenon of extremism and best practices for combating it. Participants also exchanged best practices in international anti-extremist cooperation at the regional level. • Leading Russian experts from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Federal Agency for Ethnic Affairs and the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation, as well as representatives of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism, the CIS Anti-Terrorism Centre, the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kyrgyzstan, contributed as speakers. The event was also attended by representatives of OSCE participating States, the Organisation's field missions in Central Asia and various relevant international and regional structures. • The exchange of views demonstrated that extremism is a global phenomenon affecting virtually all States and undermining their security and stability. This is primarily caused by the widespread radicalisation of society against the backdrop of the large-scale spread of destructive ideologies, ranging from pseudo-religious to ultra-right-wing, including aggressive nationalism and neo-Nazism. • Despite the existence of a solid mandate and relevant commitments, the current efforts of the OSCE in this area were noted as insufficient. In this regard, the urgent need to maintain a professional dialogue within the OSCE on countering radicalisation and extremism, as well as strengthening international cooperation and information exchange to counter these challenges, was highlighted.