On the eve of October 18, President of the Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon attended and spoke at the International Conference "International and Regional Border Security and Management Cooperation to Combat Terrorism and Prevent the Movement of Terrorists" in the Dushanbe city.

The conference was attended by high-ranking officials from United Nations member states, UN Global Counterterrorism Office organizations, international and regional organizations, civil society institutions and experts in the field of border security and ways to strengthen international and regional cooperation in border security and border control to combat terrorism and prevent the movement of terrorists.

According to the press - service of the head of state, the high-level event was opened by Vladimir Voronkov, deputy secretary-general of the United Nations and head of the U.N. Counterterrorism Office.

During his speech, President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon welcomed all the heads of influential delegations of United Nations member states and other organizations to Tajikistan.

The head of state confidently stated that during this conference the issues of security, border regime and effective counteraction to extremism and terrorism, especially prevention of terrorists' movement across the borders will be discussed in a comprehensive manner and concrete decisions will be made based on the results.

It was stressed that the range of threats and challenges posed by terrorism and extremism has been steadily expanding in recent years, these destructive phenomena are causing dire consequences, and the activities of terrorist and extremist organizations and groups are becoming increasingly trans-border and transnational in nature.

Moreover, the rapid spread of the infectious disease COVID-19 over the past two years and its consequences have made it even more difficult to confront these threats and disrupted the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals in various regions of the world.

Terrorist groups have abused this situation by expanding their extremist activities, attracting more young people to them, and encouraging and committing terrorist attacks, including through the use of information and communication technologies.

The President stated that the current situation necessitated the development of new and innovative approaches to jointly combating terrorism and the spread of extremist ideology and religious extremism, including through the use of modern technologies.

It was emphasized that Tajikistan actively supported all international efforts and measures to eradicate these undesirable phenomena and became an active participant in the international anti-terrorist community.

As part of the implementation of the National Strategy of the Republic of Tajikistan on Countering Terrorism and Extremism for 2016-2020, the country's government, among other notable successes, has also improved the mechanism for preventing extremism and terrorism, increasing the role of education and strengthening civil society.

The president of the country stated that Tajikistan is in the front line of the fight against extremism and terrorism, protecting not only the region but also territories beyond its borders from the disastrous consequences of these phenomena.

Given the complex situation in the region, the Government of Tajikistan pays special attention to the continuous strengthening of state border protection and is taking necessary measures to prevent the cross-border movement of terrorist fighters, drug trafficking, arms trafficking and other transnational crimes.

In order to improve the process of state border protection, the Government of Tajikistan, with the assistance of international partners, adopted a "National Border Management Strategy" and its implementation plan to reform the border security system for the period until 2025 back in 2010.

In order to ensure the security of the region and peace, the regular prevention of such a process and its tragic consequences is considered to be among the extremely necessary measures.

Head of State Emomali Rahmon stressed: "We hope that the countries of the world will unite in effectively counteracting these undesirable phenomena and prevent the movement of terrorists, their transfer from one region to another, realize the factors that incite terrorism, and reach a common position on the concepts of "extremism" and "terrorism."

In closing, Emomali Rahmon once again wished success and significant results to the conference and expressed confidence that countries and organizations will work closely together to raise awareness, knowledge and strengthen the capacity of states to combat terrorism in accordance with existing mechanisms.

Then, Secretary General of the United Nations António Guterres and Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Ms. Helga Schmid, addressed the event by video message.

The International Conference on International and Regional Cooperation on Border Security and Management to Counter Terrorism and Prevent the Movement of Terrorists continued in separate sections and is expected to result in the Dushanbe Declaration on Border Security and Management to Counter Terrorism and Prevent the Movement of Terrorists.

Avesta.Tj

translated

Ruzimuhammad Ismoilov