On 20 April 2023, a delegation from the Hellenic Republic of Greece briefed the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) on steps taken by Greece to implement the recommendations from the Committee’s 2018 follow-up visit, and provided updates on the evolving terrorist threats facing Greece. They are the seventh Member State to brief the CTC following a visit.
The delegation of Greece was introduced by Ambassador Antonios Papakostas, chargé d'affaires of the Permanent Mission of Greece to the United Nations, and included Greece’s Special Prosecutor for Terrorism and Organized Crime, representatives from the Counter-Terrorism Division of the Hellenic Police, and the Senior Legal Advisor to Greece’s Ministry of Justice.
Ambassador Papakostas underlined the importance which Greece attaches to its close and fruitful cooperation with the Counter-Terrorism Committee, in the context of Greece’s active participation in multilateral counter-terrorism efforts. The delegation of Greece briefed the Committee on the legislative and operational measures which Greece had taken since the Committee’s visit, including in the areas of criminal justice, countering the financing of terrorism, border management, and international cooperation. The delegation also briefed the Committee on three terrorism investigations which had been undertaken subsequent to the Committee’s visit, and which illustrated the challenges Greece was facing and the measures it had taken in response, in cooperation with regional and international partners.
Members of the Counter-Terrorism Committee welcomed the briefing provided by Greece and the measures it had taken to implement the Committee’s recommendations, noting that this constituted good practice in follow-up to the Committee’s country assessments, which other Member States were encouraged to emulate.
Following the briefing, Assistant Secretary-General Natalia Gherman, Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), reiterated CTED's appreciation to Greece for its active engagement with CTED and the Committee across a number of years. She recalled that during the assessment visit itself, the CTC delegation had been struck by the broad range of ministries and departments who were represented and participated actively in discussions. She noted that this active engagement had continued, and that in May 2022 Greece had shared with CTED detailed written observations, providing updates on the steps taken to implement the recommendations from the CTC visit, as well as helpful comments on the stocktaking package which had been prepared by CTED and transmitted to Greece after that visit. She underlined that CTED would continue to draw on these good practices in its engagement with other Member States.