PABSEC countries reaffirm commitment to fight terror, Islamic State militants

In a declaration adopted in Bucharest on Friday, the member states of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organisation (PABSEC) condemn international acts of terror and all their manifestations and forms, reaffirming their determination to fight against terror and the militants of the Islamic State grouping.Convened in Bucharest for the 46th plenary session of the General Assembly of PABSEC to mark the end of the Romanian chairmanship of the organisation, the member states are firmly condemning international terror in all its manifestations and forms that have killed thousands of innocent victims while threatening the shared values on which free and open societies are built. "We are hereby reaffirming our determination to fight against terror and the ISIS/Daesch militants at national and international levels as well as to consolidate solidarity in the fight against other extremist groupings," reads the final declaration of the plenary session of the General Assembly of PABSEC hosted by the Romanian Senate. The member states are also condemning all acts of terror, methods and practices as they cannot be in any way justified. "We are underscoring that terrorism cannot and should not be associated with any state, nation, religion, civilisation or ethnic group, and that the fight against terror should have no ethnic or religious basis," reads the declaration. Mentioning that the fight against terror is a priority for all the member states, they reaffirm their determination to work together to prevent and suppress terror actions by strengthening international solidarity and cooperation based on full recognition of the central role of the UN in accordance with the UN Charter and the obligations of international law as part of international conventions, resolutions of the UN Security Council and the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. The delegations of the member states confirmed their commitment to take measures at national and international levels in the fight against terror, including the use of strict financial sanctions in matter to counter terror. The recent terror attacks that have affected many countries show once again that the fight against international terror needs closer interaction among our countries and better coordination and cooperation among the member states in countering terror and extremism, the member states say, adding that actual and efficient measures should be implemented to eliminate all forms of terrorism. At the 46th plenary session of the PABSEC General Assembly, which started on Wednesday, chairman-in-office of PABSEC Calin Popescu Tariceanu, the Chairman of Romania's Senate, handed over on Friday the office to the Russian Federation. The main theme of the event was parliamentary involvement in the implementation of sustainable development objectives in the Black Sea Economic Cooperation area, and it was unfolded under the aegis of the Romanian Senate, the holder of the PABSEC chairmanship over June-November 2015. Attending the 46th plenary session of the PABSEC General Assembly were members of the standing delegations of the 12 BSEC member states, as well as representatives of international parliamentary organisations, national parliaments and NGOs that are PABSEC special guests or observers. PABSEC was established in 1993, and it is currently composed of 76 parliamentarians representing 12 states from the Black Sea region: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, the Russian Federation, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine.