site.btaDeputy PM Kuneva Participates in US-hosted Summit on Countering Violent Extremism

Deputy PM Kuneva Participates in US-hosted Summit on Countering  Violent Extremism


Washington, D.C., February 19 (BTA) - Deputy Prime Minister for
European Policies Coordination and Institutional Affairs Meglena
Kuneva took part in a ministerial meeting on foreign terrorist
fighters, held in Washington, as part of the three-day White
House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism, the Council of
Ministers said Thursday.

The three-day summit brought together local, federal, and
international leaders - including President Barack Obama and
foreign ministers - to discuss concrete steps the United States
and its partners can take to develop community-oriented
approaches to counter hateful extremist ideologies that
radicalize, recruit or incite to violence.

Kuneva reaffirmed Bulgaria's commitment to UN Security Council
Resolution 2178 of September 2014, which urges Member States to
"intensify and accelerate the exchange of operational
information regarding actions or movements of terrorist or
terrorist networks, including foreign terrorist fighters".

In her statement, Kuneva defended the need to strengthen control
over EU's external borders in order to prevent the transit of
fighters to and from conflict zones in the Middle East. She
pointed out that the Schengen enlargement and the accession of
Bulgaria and Romania, as well as the intense use of information
systems by all EU member states, will contribute to the overall
security of Europe. "We cannot have 28 different security
systems, we need a single one, with common standards and
preventive measures," the Deputy PM told delegates. She
emphasized the need for enhanced regional cooperation to counter
extremism, giving the cooperation between Bulgaria and Turkey
as an example.

Speaking to journalists, Kuneva pointed out that Bulgaria needs
to adopt amendments to the Penal Code by the end of March to
ensure harsher penalties for individuals associated with
terrorist organizations. The Deputy PM said that she understood
the arguments against partial legislative changes, but according
to her, security is more important, especially considering the
high level of terrorist threat to European countries.

"Bulgaria is an outpost, it is important to exchange experience
so that the country is able to meet the challenges in an
adequate way," Kuneva said and described the meeting as
extremely useful. The meeting, hosted by US Secretary of State
John Kerry, was attended by deputy prime ministers, interior and
foreign ministers of over 30 countries, and international
organizations.