The two-day conference was attended by 550 experts from OSCE participating States and partner countries, non-governmental organizations and 35 international organizations. The discussion was chaired by OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier.

The conference was launched by the current OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz who highlighted the role of young people in countering terrorism during his speech. According to him, this group is the most vulnerable one and preventive measures should be focused on youth. Among possible solutions, Minister Kurz included a limitation of propaganda on social media, which, in his opinion, is just as important as effective sharing of police information. Minister Kurz also stated that terrorism had become an increasing threat and no country was immune to terrorism and radicalization.