On 10 January, Eurojust hosted the visit of a large delegation of EU Counter-Terrorism Experts from the European External Action Service (EEAS). The delegation was led by Ms Birgit Loeser, Deputy Head of the EEAS Counter-Terrorism Division, and consisted of Policy Officers from the Division, including Expert Counter-Terrorism Officials representing specific geographic areas.

Eurojust and the EEAS Counter-Terrorism Experts have met twice in the past. Today's meeting, held for the first time at Eurojust, was hosted by Mr Frédéric Baab, National Member for France and Chair of the Counter-Terrorism Team at Eurojust. Also present were Mr Lukáš Starý, National Member for the Czech Republic and Head of the External Relations Team, Mr Boštjan Škrlec, National Member for Slovenia, and other members of Eurojust's Counter-Terrorism Team.

After introductions, Mr Baab gave a presentation about Eurojust's support to the Member States in the fight against terrorism and Ioana van Nieuwkerk, a member of the Counter-Terrorism Team, elaborated on what this support entails. Finally, Messrs Starý and Skrlec highlighted the importance of Eurojust's external relations with third States and presented Eurojust's tools, namely cooperation agreements and the establishment of contact points in third States.

Background:
'EEAS focuses on the external dimension of Counter-Terrorism in close coordination with the MS in the Council Working Group COTER (Presidency-chaired) as well as with all relevant EU institutions involved. EEAS's role is to coordinate CT external outreach and capacity building assistance to third countries by EU and MS, to ensure coherence and efficiency. Within the EEAS, Counter Terrorism related EU external relations are handled by the “Security Policy and Conflict Prevention Directorate” under Deputy Secretary General “CSDP and crisis response” supported by a dedicated CT Team within the Global issues and counter-terrorism Division.'

(Source: EEAS Counter-Terrorism Division Website)

Photo © Eurojust