From 18 to 22 March 2024, the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), conducted on behalf of the Committee its first focused visit to Montenegro. CTED conducts these visits to assess Member States’ counter-terrorism efforts, including progress made, good practices, remaining challenges, and priority areas for technical assistance needs related to the effective implementation of the relevant Security Council resolutions.
The visits remain one of the key channels of the Counter-Terrorism Committee to engage and conduct a constructive dialogue with Member States with a view to achieving effective and comprehensive implementation of the relevant Security Council resolutions on counter-terrorism.
The visiting delegation was led by Mr. Ahmed Seif El-Dawla, CTED Chief of Section for Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East, and consisted of CTED experts on criminal justice, international and regional cooperation, financial law and practice, law enforcement and border control, countering violent extremism conducive to terrorism, and human rights. Experts from several United Nations bodies and international organizations were also part of the delegation, representing the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International Organization for Migration (IOM); the International Maritime Organization (IMO); and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
The visit enabled the delegation to assess progress made by Montenegro in adopting measures to implement Security Council resolutions 1373 (2001), 1624 (2005), 2178 (2014), 2396 (2017), 2462 (2019), 2617 (2021) and other relevant resolutions on counter-terrorism.
During the visit to Montenegro, the expert discussions focused on counter-terrorism legislation and criminal justice responses to terrorism; international cooperation in criminal matters; measures taken to counter the financing of terrorism; law enforcement; border management; aviation and maritime security; measures to counter violent extremism; and implementation of national integrated and comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy, as well as strategies on countering violent extremism conducive to terrorism. The human rights aspects of Montenegro’s counter-terrorism measures and the role of women in countering terrorism and violent extremism conducive to terrorism were also raised during the discussions.
The delegation also held separate meetings with the United Nations Resident Coordinator, experts from the delegation of the European Union to Montenegro, the OSCE mission to Montenegro, and civil society organizations. The delegation conducted on-site visits to Podgorica International Airport and the Port of Bar.