Mr. Claudio Galzerano

Mr. Claudio Galzerano, Brigadier General of the Italian National Police, born in Rome in 1963, since December 2020 is the Director of the European Counterterrorism Center at Europol. Graduated in law at the University of Rome (la Sapienza), he joined the Italian National Police in 1991. He started his career in Milan, dealing with law and order issues. In 1993 he was appointed as deputy head of the anti-crime division at the Milan police headquarters, developing a sound knowledge in fighting serious organized crime. Since 1996 he has been engaged in countering internal and international terrorism, starting with the Digos field offices of Milan and Rome and then at the Central Directorate of Prevention Police, where he was, for 10 years, the director of the International Antiterrorism Division until his promotion as brigadier general in March 2016.

In September 2017 he was appointed as Director of Counter International Extremism and Terrorism Service within the Central Directorate of Prevention Police. Lecturer in different specialist courses for magistrates and police officers, he is the author of many publications and articles for law enforcement magazines. He also represented the Italian national police and the public security department in high level events on international cooperation in the field of counterterrorism. In 2014 he was the chair of the terrorism working party of the Council of the European Union during the Italian presidency semester, promoting in that context the creation of a network of national contact points specifically dedicated to tackle the foreign fighters phenomenon.

For his professional activity in the field of fighting organized crime and terrorism Mr. Claudio Galzerano has received different awards in Italy and abroad. Among the most significant anti-terrorism operations, he coordinated the capture in Milan of one of the inspirators of the Madrid attacks on March 11, 2004; the arrest in Rome of one of the authors of the attacks in London on July 21, 2005 and in 2018, the capture in Naples of two militants of the Islamic State intending to carry out an attack in Europe.

He was one of the promoters of the Interagency Dialogue on Security Matters in Italy. Since its creation (November 2003) to November 2020 he represented the Central Directorate of Prevention Police in the National Counterterrorism Fusion Centre (C.A.S.A.).