PABSEC Participation in the International Parliamentary Conference “Global Challenges and Threats in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Terrorism and Violent Extremism , 15 April 2021.

Mr. Asaf Hajiyev, PABSEC Secretary General, took part in the International Parliamentary Conference “Global Challenges and Threats in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Terrorism and Violent Extremism”, organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the Member States of the Commonwealth of Independent States (IPACIS) jointly with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE PA), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) and the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Office (UNOCT) on 15 April 2021.

The Conference began with a plenary session chaired by Ms. Valentina Matvienko, Chairperson of the IPA CIS Council, Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.

The participants in the Conference were addressed by Ms. Sahiba Gafarova, Chairperson of the Milli Mejlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan,  Mr. Ararat Mirzoyan, President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, Ms. Zinaida Greceanii, President of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, as well as the Chairpersons of the Parliaments of the Republic of Belarus, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Republic of Kazakhstan, parliamentarians of the CIS countries, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, President Emeritus of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean, Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee on Countering Terrorism of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Chairman of the Executive Committee and CIS Executive Secretary, Head of the CIS Anti-Terrorism Centre, Secretary General and Head of the Secretariat of the IPA CIS Council, UN Assistant Secretary General and Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the Secretary General of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), representatives of international organizations, scientists, experts, representatives of public and specialized organizations.

The key-note speech at the conference was presented by Mr. Alexander Bortnikov, Head of the Joint Chiefs of Security and Special Services of the CIS Member States, Director of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation.

The Conference proceeded in the framework of the thematic sessions “Legal Mechanisms of International Cooperation in Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism”, “Assessing the Terrorist Threat and Efforts to Prevent Violent Extremism”, “Promoting and Protecting the Rights of Victims of Terrorism and Addressing Their Needs” and “Democracies Facing the COVID-19 Pandemic”.