• Pakistan, EU condemn terrorism in all its forms.
• Both sides renew commitment to fight terrorism.
• Discuss areas of cooperation to check terror financing.

Pakistan and the European Union held their ninth counter-terrorism dialogue in Brussels on Thursday to discuss cooperation on counter-terrorism, as part of their wider engagement on security matters in the framework of the 2019 Strategic Engagement Plan.

The respective delegations were led by the European External Action Service’s Director for Security and Defence Policy Maciej Stadejek and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Director General for Counter-Terrorism Abdul Hameed.

The European Union and Pakistan condemned terrorism in all its forms and confirmed their steadfast commitment to fight it, an official statement read.

The two-sided talks 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 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, it added.

The European Union and Pakistan also discussed areas for the exchange of best practices and for concrete cooperation, 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.

In January, EU Special Representative for Human Rights (EUSR) Ambassador Olof Skoog paid a week-long visit to Pakistan in which he emphasised the need for progress on a range of issues in Pakistan, including human rights, to benefit from GSP+ status amid the ongoing review under the GSP+ trade policy.

During his visit, Ambassador Skoog held meetings with federal and provincial government ministers, military leadership, senior officials, United Nations bodies, human rights defenders and lawyers, civil society organisations, media representatives, and the business sector.

The special representative reaffirmed the EU’s commitment to supporting Pakistan in meeting its human rights obligations and, in this regard, encouraged diligent efforts and meaningful consultations with all stakeholders, including the country’s vibrant civil society.