Extremism, recruitment and movement of foreign fighters: Pakistan, EU agree to take concrete measures

ISLAMABAD: The European Union (EU) and Pakistan have agreed to take concrete measures, with a focus on common actions on prevention and countering of violent extremism, recruitment and movement of foreign fighters, offline and online radicalisation, combating terrorism financing and more topics that are relevant to address the growing challenges posed by terrorism.

Foreign Office (FO) said on Thursday in a statement that Pakistan and the European Union held their ninth Counter-Terrorism Dialogue in Brussels, on 20 February.

The two delegations discussed cooperation on counter-terrorism, as part of their wider engagement on security matters in the framework of the 2019 Strategic Engagement Plan.

The EU and Pakistan condemned terrorism in all its forms and confirmed their steadfast commitment to fight it, read the FO statement.

The dialogue allowed for an exchange on regional and global challenges, including the security implications of the situation in Afghanistan and in other areas, like the Middle East.

Both parties confirmed the importance of a strong cooperation with international partners in multilateral fora. This includes the work in the United Nations’ framework and in the Global Counter-Terrorism Forum, which the EU has been co-chairing since 2022.

The respective delegations were led by Maciej Stadejek, director for Security and Defence Policy at the European External Action Service and Abdul Hameed, director general for Counter Terrorism at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025