The European Union has called for enhanced partnership with the African Union in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism.
Stronger cooperation will go a long way in tackling the two challenges, EU's Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos said ahead of African Regional High-Level Conference on Counter-terrorism and the Prevention of Violent Extremism which opens in Nairobi today.
“Terrorism is a transnational threat that cannot be defeated by any single government or organisation. This is why the United Nations, the European Union and the African Union are strengthening their cooperation to fight this common threat,” Avramopoulos said in a statement to the Star.
He will be representing the European Union at the conference.
The EU official noted that Kenya has been under pressure from terrorists for a number of years and is at the same time under regional migratory pressure, hosting more than half a million refugees.
“Both of these challenges are something that we in Europe can very much understand, having experienced both. It is only by joining forces, by cooperating and learning from one another that we can increase our collective resilience.”
Avramopoulos said that Europe's and Africa's prosperity and security are now more than ever linked. The two continents need each other to tackle terrorism and violent extremism, he said.
The regional conference is intended to enhance the global understanding of the terrorism threats faced by African countries. It expects to provide a platform for sharing good practices and lessons learned and to identify how cooperation among countries globally can be made more effective.
It will be used as a reference in the next United Nations High-level Conference of Heads of Counter-Terrorism Agencies of member states in June 2020.
