Thirty-six months after the terrorist attack on the US and six months after the terrorist acts in Madrid, Russia has become the target for international terrorism's heinous attacks.
The horrifying terrorist attack in Beslan on innocent children is a new facet of the threat posed by international terrorism against humankind. We agree unanimously that we must join forces to fight terrorism everywhere.
Today, we want to mourn the victims of terrorism in both countries and elsewhere in the world. We share the pain of the victims' families and express sympathy for all those who are suffering from the consequences of terrorist attacks. We are aware of our responsibility to do everything possible to protect the life of people from the evil of terrorism. Our citizens have a right to safety, freedom and protection from terrorism. At the same time, we recognise the exceptional importance of compliance with all human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as the principle of the supremacy of law, including in repelling terrorism and fighting the terrorist menace.
Terrorism is threatening international peace and security and attacks democracy and freedom, openness and tolerance. International terrorism today, along with the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, regional conflicts and organised crime, is one of the most dangerous challenges to the security of both of our countries. Russia and Germany will do everything they can to fight all forms of terrorism in accordance with the UN Charter and obligations sealed in Resolution 1373 of the UN Security Council (2001). Both states stress the central and co-ordinating role of the United Nations in the common struggle against terrorism.
Russia and Germany denounce all terrorist attacks and forms of terrorism, whatever the reasons for them, as crimes that have no justification. Both states will strengthen their interaction to combat more effectively the global problem of terrorism and its roots. They are active members of the international anti-terrorist coalition. The terrorist threat faces every country on the planet. International terrorist attacks pose a threat to the entire international community.
We shall continue to develop co-operation between our states in the fight against terrorism. In particular, we shall:
- jointly facilitate common efforts to combat terrorism, including within the framework of the United Nations, G8, the NATO-Russia Council, the OSCE and the Council of Europe;
- continue to counteract terrorism financing and implement the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF);
- continue strengthening our co-operation in order to prevent terrorist attacks, identify terrorists at an early stage, investigate their actions and put them on trial;
- co-ordinate and step up our efforts to prevent the acquisition or creation by terrorists of nuclear, chemical, radiological or biological weapons, their delivery vehicles, and related materials, equipment and technologies;
- step up the exchange of information about terrorist threats and the results of assessment/analysis of such threats;
- ensure the security of international transportation and effective border control;
- join forces to fight cyber-terrorism and prevent the illegal use of electronic media and the freedom of cyberspace by those who threaten public safety;
- closely co-operate to expand our capabilities for preventing and minimising the consequences of terrorist attacks, in particular against our foreign missions;
- take measures to study and reduce factors that facilitate the recruitment of terrorists, in particular suicidal terrorists;
- interact in the provision of assistance to third countries that seek the assistance of the United Nations in the struggle against international terrorism.
We instruct the high-level Russian-German working group on security to elaborate a detailed working programme for accomplishing these objectives.
