Belarus president calls on intl organizations to unite & form counter-terrorism front

International organizations need to work together for the development of a counter-terrorism front, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said on Tuesday. Speaking at an international conference on counter-terrorism in Minsk, he said that Belarus continues supporting all counter-terrorism initiatives within the UN framework.

Minsk already strives to strengthen partnerships in counter-terrorism, shares intelligence and participates in developing a network of counter-terrorism coordinators, BelTA quoted the president as saying. “Today’s scale of terrorist activities, however, requires going beyond one organization,” Lukashenko said.

He noted that the joint development of “a strong-knit counter-terrorism front” by the UN, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the EU, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the CIS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and other international organizations “is the only way to counteract this threat effectively.”

Lukashenko added that the idea to unite the OSCE and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) under the aegis of the Minsk conference on counter-terrorism was relevant and timely.