Macedonian institutions & advantages of cooperation with Europol in the fight against terrorism
Representatives of the Police, Public prosecution, Agency for national security and the National Coordinator for countering terrorism (CT) and violent extremism (CVE) had the opportunity to learn about how the European Counterterrorism Centre (ECTC) of Europol can facilitate the national CT investigations. The respective workshop took place on the 4th and 5th of November in Skopje, North Macedonia where two prominent experts of the ECTC shared with their Macedonian peers many relevant insights and best practices of the counter-terrorism work of Europol.
The Head of the Macedonia CT police department presented their organisational set-up and range of competences while also touching upon the genesis of the department in the wake of the reform of the national security services in the country, back in 2019. This was accompanied by the recognition of the importance of cooperation with Europol in the fight against national and international terrorist treats relayed by the Head of the National Europol Unit and the National CT/CVE Coordinator.
For the rest of the workshop, the 2 Europol experts shared with the workshop participants an array of Europol methods and tools that Macedonian law enforcement officers can use in their fight against terrorism and violent extremism. By doing so, they also stressed the importance of using the SIENA channel of secure communication as well Europol’s approach to OSINT (Open-source intelligence) investigations, financial investigations and handling weapons and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear substances and explosives used in terroristic attacks. The discussing ended with exchange of relevant contacts and practical guidance in terms of the future direct cooperation between Europol and MKD authorities in the fight against terrorism.
CSC WB is and will remain reliable partner to the law-enforcement agencies in the Western Balkan in the fight against terrorism in terms of supporting cross-border CT investigations while using all available Europol tools and opportunities for cooperation.
Photo source: CSC WB
