Bogor hosts Southeast Asia Regional Seminar on EU Engagement in Counter Terrorism and Preventing Violent Extremism

• Bringing together 60 participants from the European Union and across the Indo-Pacific, the two-day event outlined priorities for the EU Activity Plan on Counter Terrorism and Preventing/Countering Violent Extremism (CT-P/CVE) for Southeast Asia 2025-2028.
• A panel of regional and international experts from several Indonesian institutions, ASEAN and the EU reviewed progress and evolving priorities regarding violent extremism in Southeast Asia, discussing topics such as foreign travel and influence, emerging technologies, prisons and probation, and finance and charities.

Bogor, Indonesia, 26 April 2024: Bogorhosted a total of 60 participants from the European Union (EU) and across the Indo-Pacific for a regional seminar taking stock of developments and outlining priorities for tackling terrorism and violent extremism in Southeast Asia.

Over two days, regional and international experts reviewed progress and evolving priorities for the EU Activity Plan on Counter Terrorism and Preventing/Countering Violent Extremism (CT-P/CVE) for Southeast Asia 2025-2028, discussing topics such as foreign travel and influence, emerging technologies, prisons and probation, and finance and charities.

The event was co-organised by the EU Delegation to Indonesia, the National Counterterrorism Agency of Indonesia (BNPT), and the Enhancing Security Cooperation In and With Asia (ESIWA) project. It convened experts and practitioners from EU Member States, ASEAN countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, and officials from several Indonesian institutions such as Densus-Polri, the Directorate General of Corrections, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Indonesian National Intelligence.

H.E.Denis Chaibi, EU Ambassadorto Indonesia, said: "Time and again, Indonesia has shown the way and demonstrated its unique competence on combatting radicalisation, on preventing extremism, and on dealing with terrorist threat while preserving a strong attachment to the rule of law. We are here in Bogor to work together to develop a global holistic response. The EU is particularly keen to learn from the Indonesian experience, which is particularly noteworthy."

Andhika Chrisna Yudhanto, Deputy for International Cooperation, National Counterterrorism Agency of Indonesia (BNPT), said: "The EU Activity Plan on CT-P/CVE for Indonesia and the region substantially increased our direct engagement by progressing discussions on complex policy issues and forging genuine connections between security practitioners in the EU and Southeast Asia. This regional seminar ensures this constructive engagement not only continues, but that it remains focused on the most relevant and pressing challenges moving forward."

The regional seminar comes as a next step to the four-year EU Activity Plan on CT-P/CVE for Indonesia and the region that was developed and instituted in 2019 by the European External Action Service (EEAS) counterterrorism and security expert in Southeast Asia, Marc Vierstraete-Verlinde, who is based in Jakarta.

"This seminar is not only about Indonesia and the EU. It builds on the fact that Indonesia is a driving force, a champion in the region," said Marc Vierstraete-Verlinde, EEAS Counter Terrorism/Security-Expert to SEA.

"Regional cooperation and the centrality of ASEAN is the way to boost ourinternationalcooperation, anticipateemerging threatsandtoprotect our citizens," added Vierstraete-Verlinde.

In 2015, the EEAS established an EU Counter Terrorism/Security Experts Network, which now includes globally distributed positions in 19 nations. In December 2018, Marc Vierstraete-Verlinde became the first EU counterterrorism security expert for Southeast Asia, based in Jakarta with a regional focus on the 10 ASEAN nations. Following a range of consultations and engagements in 2019, he developed an Activity Plan for EU Counterterrorism and P/CVE engagement in Southeast Asia.

The plan ultimately involved three primary thematic areas: finance, gender & youth, and prisons, with cross-cutting issues and an intention to consider the new EU plan as a living document.

In December 2019, Indonesia's National Counter Terrorism Agency (BNPT) invited Marc Vierstraete-Verlinde to present the first iteration of the EU Activity Plan at the inaugural meeting for the ASEAN Plan of Action to Prevent and Counter the Rise of Radicalisation and Violent Extremism, now commonly known as the Bali Work Plan.

In early 2020, the ESIWA project was launched with CT-P/CVE as one of its four thematic areas and Indonesia among its initial five pilot nations. From September 2020, ESIWA began to support the EU Delegation in Jakarta and the implementation of the EU Activity Plan.

ESIWA: The ESIWA project works to enhance the EU's security and defence cooperation with the Indo-Pacific in four thematic areas: counterterrorism and preventing violent extremism, crisis management, cyber security, and maritime security. The project is co-funded by the European Union, the German Federal Foreign Office, and the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. ESIWA is co-implemented by the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) & Expertise France.

In the domain of counter-terrorism and preventing violent extremism (CT-PVE), ESIWA aims to contribute to information exchange, capacity building and mutual learning.

In 2023, ESIWA implemented 11 workshops/roundtables/seminars under the EU Activity Plan, involving almost 500 participants. An ASEAN-EU Handbook on prisons was also developed in 2023 and subsequently endorsed by the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime (SOMTC).

Previous ESIWA activities in Indonesia have covered - among other subjects -- maritime security, confidence building measures in cyberspace, standard minimum rules for the treatment of children, application of international law to cyberspace, good practice to respond to cybercrime, anti-money laundering & countering terrorism financing, crisis management, connecting women working in counterterrorism law enforcement, Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) handbook book tours, support to the development of Indonesia's Knowledge Hub on Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism (#IKHub), and the repatriation of children from displacement camps of North-East Syria.

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Download the joint press release in PDF format HERE

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