The forum participants discussed legislative experience in countering the financing of terrorism and extremism, the radicalisation of youth, as well as the introduction of FATF standards in national legislation.
Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Nikolai Zhuravlev chaired the 2nd Forum of Parliamentarians of the Eurasian Group on Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism (EAG) Member States. The event was held in Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan.
The forum was attended by delegations from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, India, and Armenia, as well as representatives from the UN and the CSTO. The Russian delegation included deputy chairs of the Federation Council Committee on the Budget and Financial Markets Mukharby Ulbashev and Andrei Yepishin, and Deputy Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Farit Mukhametshin.
The main topics of discussion were legislative activity in combating the financing of terrorism and extremism, the radicalisation of youth, as well as the introduction of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards into national legislation.
“We discussed forming a legal framework for the effective fight against illegal financial transactions and approaches to creating legal regulation in this area. Today’s conditions require further improvement in the anti-money laundering system, taking into account international standards, as well as constructive interaction with foreign states on specialised international platforms. Creating infrastructure for mutual information exchange is of great importance,” Nikolai Zhuravlev noted.
The speakers focused on improving legislation in the face of new challenges, regulating virtual assets, countering extremist activities, and using non-profit organisations to recruit people into radical groups.
“Of particular importance is the task of preventing the use of non-profit organisations to spread the ideology of extremism and terrorism and preventing the financing these activities. The main goal of legislative regulation in this area is to protect NGOs from misuse,” Mukharby Ulbashev said in his speech.
Following the forum, the participants adopted a final declaration. “The fight against the spread of the ideology of extremism and terrorism, the radicalisation of youth and the substitution of traditional theological values by cutting off channels for financing this activity should acquire a coordinated approach,” the document says. “The forum calls on the EAG member states to take measures to harmonise approaches to legislative regulation on combating the regional risks of financing terrorist and extremist activities, as well as counteracting the radicalisation of youth and the involvement of non-governmental non-profit organisations in illegal activities.”