Albares, Grande-Marlaska and the United Nations Under-Secretary-General inaugurate this office, which will focus on protecting vulnerable targets, preventing extremism and supporting victims.

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Opens new counter-terrorism office

The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, and the United Nations Under-Secretary-General, Vladimir Voronkov, today inaugurated the new United Nations Counter-Terrorism Office (UNCLO) in Madrid.

After the inauguration ceremony, Albares, Grande-Marlaska and Voronkov toured the premises of the new OLCT Office, which the Minister of Foreign Affairs highlighted as “an important milestone after several years of close work with the United Nations to strengthen the fight against terrorism through multilateralism”.

The Minister of the Interior wished to reiterate the Spanish government’s support for the activities of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Office and stressed “Spain’s firm and unquestionable commitment to the fight against terrorism and the protection and shelter of its victims”.

Voronkov thanked Spain for its support for the work of the OLCT and stressed “the need to strengthen international cooperation against terrorism, to which the Madrid Office of the OLCT will actively contribute”.

The new OLCT Programme Office focuses on providing technical assistance and capacity building projects to countries around the world. It will focus in particular on the fields of protection of vulnerable targets, including critical infrastructure and public places, prevention of violent extremism, including through sport and youth participation, promotion and protection of human rights, and support to victims of terrorism.

The Office also focuses on facilitating bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the fight against terrorism. It will also be able to draw on Spain’s experience and best practices in counter-terrorism to help implement these programmes in beneficiary countries.

The OLCT and the Government of Spain signed the Host Country Agreement and the Premises Agreement for the establishment of this OLCT Programme Office in Madrid in June and September 2022, respectively.

Within the framework of his visit and also related to this new Office, Voronkov held meetings with the heads of the Spanish National Intelligence Centre (CNI), Esperanza Casteleiro; of the National Security Department of the Presidency of the Government, General Miguel Ángel Ballesteros; and of the Spanish Ministry of the Interior’s Centre for Intelligence against Terrorism and Organised Crime (CITCO), General Manuel Navarrete.