KUWAIT, Nov 5 (KUNA) -- UN Undersecretary General for Counterterrorism Office Vladimir Voronkov expressed on Tuesday appreciation to Kuwait for hosting the High-Level Conference on "Strengthening International Counter-Terrorism Cooperation and Building Agile Border Security Mechanisms - The Kuwait Phase of the Dushanbe Process".
In an interview with KUNA and the Kuwait TV News Channel, Voronkov said: "It was a big, big positive feeling that a big number of member states decided to participate in this conference. The invitation was sent to 115 countries. Some 92 of them decided to participate." He noted that "it's absolutely the evidence that counterterrorism is still a very high priority in every national agenda. And it means that, unfortunately, the threat of terrorism is still high." Voronkov said that the member states of the United Nations "are looking for the better action, more united efforts with regard to countering terrorism".
He pointed out that the conference is very timely and it is designed to have a substantive answer on difficult questions, adding that the discussions were very intensive and result-oriented and the outcome is absolutely obvious.
"We have a new declaration on Dushanbe process Kuwait phase, and this declaration is a composition of a very practical engagement to be taken together with the State of Kuwait in the next period of time," Voronkov said.
One of the tasks of the conference in New York will be to understand how fast "we are moving forward in implementation of our efforts" in more effective countering of terrorism, he elaborated.
"These are numbers, which prove that we are on the right track, that we are working together with member states. We are listening to member states and we're trying to accommodate our agenda to the demands and needs of member states.
"Our hectic world, our very dramatic development in many parts of the world created not a very good atmosphere for international relations and international politics," Voronkov exclaimed. "But speaking about counter-terrorism, I can assure you, you saw that there is still a very strong will to cooperate." On Kuwait, he said "I admire the very fast development of this country. And I know that from the point of view of international relations, Kuwait is one of the leading countries, not only in the region, but globally.
"So because I am a former diplomat, of course, I could make my assessment of the outcomes of activities of the diplomacy of the State of Kuwait. And my very humble definition could be perfect. And the conference showed this," he concluded. (pickup previous) aa.hm