The European Union and Australia held a Counter-Terrorism Dialogue on 2 June in Brussels.

The Dialogue was an opportunity to continue and enhance the close and long-standing cooperation on this important element of the EU-Australia security partnership. The Dialogue took place against the backdrop of an international security situation fundamentally affected by the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.

The European Union and Australia exchanged views on regional threat assessments and relevant policy responses, key counter-terrorism policy developments, new tools in tackling terrorist content online and violent extremism.

They acknowledged the challenges posed by terrorism and violent extremism globally, and the importance of working closely with international partners to safeguard our communities and our interests from harm, highlighting the importance of a human rights- and rule-of-law-based approach.

The EU and Australia decided to further enhance their joint efforts in multilateral fora, such as the United Nations, the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) – building on the opportunities offered by the EU’s co-chair of the Forum – and the Global Coalition against Da’esh. This will strengthen international cooperation to combat terrorism in a comprehensive and sustained manner and to address challenges linked to the emerging forms of radicalisation and violent extremism across the globe, as well as the dissemination of terrorist content online.

The meeting was co-chaired by Ms Joanneke Balfoort, Director for Security and Defence Policy at the European External Action Service, and Mr Richard Feakes, Australia’s newly-appointed Ambassador for Counter-Terrorism.