FUNDACIÓN VÍCTIMAS DEL TERRORISMO 93 - ENGLISH

13 al police forces in the removal of ter- rorist content, the EU IRU acts as the central hub that articulates and drives European and international coopera- tion in this area, connecting Member States with each other and also with third countries, digital platforms and specialised bodies. This network allows alerts, trends and cases to be shared in near real time. Thanks to this cooperation network, Spain integrates its work into a broad, coherent and proactive European eco- system that amplifies our detection ca- pabilities, facilitates the rapid removal of content and ensures a joint response to threats that know no borders. How important is cooperation with the Maghreb and Sahel countries in preventing terrorism affecting Eu- rope? With regard to North Africa, geograph- ical proximity and historical relations have determined the important links that exist in different areas, including those related to security. It should also be noted that the jihadist phenomenon originating in the Magh- reb is potentially the greatest terrorist threat to Spain 1 , although, although in- cidents have been recorded, its impact has probably been less significant in our country due, in part, to the excel- lent anti-terrorist work carried out by our southern neighbours, acting as a barrier to jihadist expansion, and they have developed a significant security and intelligence structure. Furthermore, the situation of jihadism in the Maghreb is of great interest to our country due to the significant sim- ilarities and close links it has with ter- rorism in Spain, presenting itself as an extended reality of what is happening in our country. This allows us, to a certain extent, to detect and anticipate trends and even predict what could be happen- ing with jihadists on Spanish territory. Cooperation with North African coun- tries has therefore been one of the pil- lars of the fight against terrorism in Spain. In the case of Morocco, it has become a model that many European countries have tried to imitate, as it allows for a fluid exchange of informa- tion and, in recent years, has led to a large number of arrests in Spain and the development of some thirty joint counter-terrorism operations in both countries. The Sahelian strip, meanwhile, is one of the regions with the highest incidence of terrorism in the world. Both Al Qa- eda, through its organisation known as JNIM, and DAESH, through Wilaya Sahel (WS), are present there. A key issue for Spain's security is the possibility, albeit low but not negligible, that radicalised individuals may exploit and take advantage of the migratory flows from this area to Europe. In this regard, countries on Africa's Atlantic coast receive large numbers of migrants from neighbouring coun- tries, especially Mali. These countries are making great efforts in the strategic, operational and legislative fields, focus- ing particularly on preventing illegal departures by sea, arresting organisers and deporting irregular immigrants. Collaboration programmes with the other Sahel countries have been ex- tensive and very fruitful, although collaboration with the West in general has currently been reduced due to the arrival in power of military juntas in some countries, which have decided to end relations with European nations, especially France, in order to forge links with Russia. In addition to terrorism, CITCO co- ordinates the fight against organised crime. Which criminal networks are currently of most concern in Spain? In the online sphere, we do see points of convergence between terrorism and organised crime. The most significant is the shared use of digital infrastruc- ture and illicit services, particularly in terms of financing, resource acquisition and anonymisation of internet activity. There has been a rise in hybrid financ- ing methods, such as cryptocurrencies and "digital hawala" systems, used by both criminal networks and terrorist groups to make opaque transfers. In the digital sphere, these mechanisms facilitate transnational movements with virtually no traceability. The use of online platforms to obtain manuals, components or weapons has also been observed, as well as the pres- ence of both actors in encrypted envi- ronments or clandestine forums where illicit services are exchanged: forged documentation, anonymisation tools or intrusion techniques. In general, we cannot speak of joint structures, but rather of an operation- al overlap: terrorists and criminals use the same services and digital spaces to finance themselves, obtain supplies or cover their tracks. This convergence requires greater cooperation and joint analysis to prevent it from going unno- ticed. How is Spain adapting to new forms of threat, such as cyberterrorism or financing through cryptocurrencies? Spain has been adapting to these new forms of threat for years, relying pri- marily on a very solid and forward-look- ing legal framework. Directive (EU) 2017/541 helped to standardise the European criminal response to phe- 1. Three of the most significant jihadist attacks against our country's interests, the attacks in Casablanca (2003), Madrid (2004) and Barcelona/ Cambrils (2017), were carried out by Moroccan citizens or individuals of Moroccan origin. Furthermore, Ceuta and Melilla, as well as the Moroccan towns bordering these autonomous cities, have become areas particularly affected by the threat facing our country, and in recent years have been one of the main focal points of terrorist and anti-terrorist activity. INTERVIEW WITH THE DIRECTOR OF CITCO NEWS