Iceland signs European anti-terrorism pact

Iceland was one of seventeen national delegations present in Riga, Latvia, yesterday to sign up to a new pact aimed at addressing the problem of ‘foreign terrorist fighters’.

The agreement is a protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism and criminalises “a number of acts, including taking part in an association or group for the purpose of terrorism, receiving terrorist training, travelling abroad for the purposes of terrorism and financing or organising travel for this purpose”.

The Protocol aims to facilitate cooperation between European countries and enable rapid exchange of information, to tackle the issue of ever greater numbers of individuals travelling to conflict zones to fight in terrorist organisations and subsequently returning to their countries of origin, possibly with the intention of committing terrorist attacks.

For more information, see the Council of Europe website here.