Third Asia-Europe Counter Terrorism Dialogue

The 2018 Asia-Europe Counter-Terrorism Dialogue was held in Brussels and Berlin from 15 to 17 October 2018. Speaking on the terrorist threat landscape in Asia in Berlin on 16 October 2018, General Ryamizard Ryacudu, Minister of Defence of Indonesia, stressed the importance of holistic domestic approaches. These must involve all branches of government and non-governmental stakeholders, he said, and there is a need for Southeast Asia to improve collaboration among the ASEAN member states. The “Our Eyes” initiative, which was launched earlier this year and adopted by ASEAN, is a promising attempt to provide a framework for collaboration among the military, law enforcement, and national security agencies. Chairing the panel with Malaysian counter-terrorism chief Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay and former national coordinator for counter terrorism in Pakistan, Ihsan Ghani, Amb Ong Keng Yong, the Executive Deputy Chairman of RSIS, discussed the need for a whole-of-society approach in the fight against terrorism, extremism, and exclusivism.

Initially, 13 high-ranking delegates from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, and Sri Lanka visited Brussels. There, they held meetings with the Office of the EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, the Belgian Coordination Unit for Threat Analysis and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (EUROPOL), the European External Action Service (EEAS), the European Union Intelligence and Situation Centre (EU INTCEN), and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). In the latter part of the meeting in Berlin, the delegation held talks with the Ministry of the Interior, the two German Security services Bundesnachrichtendienst and Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the Federal Chancellery and the Violence Prevention Network. Among other things, they discussed how Germany can work with its Asian partners on issues such as foreign terrorism, interagency collaboration, information-sharing, prevention, de-radicalisation, and rehabilitation.

During the dialogue, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) and RSIS also launched their most recent joint publication titled Combatting Violent Extremism and Terrorism in Asia and Europe – Form Cooperation to Collaboration edited by Christian Echle, Rohan Gunaratna, Patrick Rueppel, and Megha Sarmah.