Spain to Open UN Counter-Terrorism Office, Boosting Cooperation with Morocco

UNOCT was created in 2017 to support the efforts of the various UN agencies in their missions to assist member states in implementing the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. The Madrid office will collaborate with the one in Morocco, the first to be established on the African continent.

The UNOCT in Madrid will have three priority areas: "attention to victims of terrorism, the study of vulnerable targets and the role of sport in the prevention of violent extremism," the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs told El Español. The Madrid office will also provide, among other things, training on border security management.

For its part, the Rabat office will also work closely with the one in Madrid, Moroccan sources have assured. The Spanish Ministry of the Interior has confirmed the "excellent quality" of the counterterrorism cooperation between Spain and Morocco for years, even during the height of the diplomatic crisis between the two countries.

"The UNOCT office will allow us to benefit from the experience and knowledge of Morocco and other member states and organizations in the region in the fight against terrorism," said Vladimir Voronkov, UN Under-Secretary-General of UNOCT, during the opening of the office in Rabat in June 2021.