14.01.2021 – Countering Financing of Terrorism Capacity Building in CEE/Western Balkans: Report Launch

14 January 2021 (Thursday)

10 AM – 3 PM CET

This workshop is part of a project funded by the European Union’s International Security Fund – Police. The project CRAAFT is a research and community building initiative designed to build stronger, more coordinated counter terrorist financing (CTF) capacity across the EU and in its neighbourhood.

The focus of the workshop that will be taking place on Thursday 14th January 2021, will be the capacities of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) - analytical bodies that review suspicious transactions to combat terrorist financing and money laundering. A particular focus will be dedicated to international cooperation between FIUs amongst each other as well as with the Visegrad 4 countries. Synergy with private sector actors in combatting TF will also be tackled.

GLOBSEC’s draft of the first report on this topic, which is part of Project CRAAFT deliverables, will also be presented at the workshop. The feedback and comments from the participants will be included in the final report version. Drawing on the findings of the report, participants will be able to discuss common challenges and share experience, lessons learnt and discuss methods to improve CTF capacity building in the CEE region and the Western Balkans.

Schedule:

The workshop will take place on Thursday January 14th according to the following summary schedule (all times are CET times).

Session 1 (10:00 - 12:30)
• Welcome and Introduction to GLOBSEC. – Magdalena Markiewicz – Research Fellow and Project Manager – National Security Programme GLOBSEC

• Introduction to Project CRAAFT and to Slack Communication Platform – Olivia Kearney – Community Building Officer, RUSI

• Brief Introductions of Workshop Participants – Role/Affiliation/Responsibilities.Workshop Guests.

• Presentation of GLOBSEC Draft Report Findings. Q&A, Feedback and Comments from Participants. Andrea Marinkovic – Project Research Analyst - GLOBSEC

Session 2 (13:00 - 15:00):
Discussion with FIU and V4 Representatives: CTF and AML Capacity Building – Experience, Lessons Learnt, Challenges and Improvement Possibilities.

Dr Ingrida Kerusauskaite - Portfolio Lead, Anti-Corruption and Illicit Financial Flows at Palladium and Affiliated Lecturer, University of Cambridge.

Topics:

• Capacities of FIUs/V4 actors to combat terrorist financing and money laundering –Challenges encountered and the methods to overcome them.
• International cooperation in V4: comments by Hungary and Slovakia
• Cooperation amongst FIUs and CTF related agencies in CEE region: comments by NorthMacedonia, Albania, Kosovo
• Synergy with the private sector – opportunities and setbacks.
• Common challenges in international cooperation between FIUs and V4 countries in combating TF.
• Evaluation of the role of NPOs in CTF on a national and European level – experience sharing.
• The vulnerability of certain NPOs to terrorist financing.
• Synergy with private sector bodies – experience sharing and comments from participants.Workshop participants will be asked to present briefly the modus operandi of their national structures responsible for CTF, successes and challenges met, as well as the degree of cooperation between the relevant bodies related to the field.

 

Each workshop will be conducted using the Zoom platform and will make use of screen sharing to ensure participants have the maximum opportunity to learn and engage.

This is a closed-door session, in case you are interested in joining please send an email to [email protected].