Anti-terrorist measures
Am exceptional international meeting on terrorism was held in Paris on Sunday.
România Internațional, 12.01.2015, 13:11
An exceptional international meeting on terrorism was held in Paris on Sunday. 11 European interior ministers and the US Attorney General agreed on new security measures to prevent attacks such as the one that occurred in France last week. Find out what these new measures are in a report by Andreea Bojoi read by..
On Sunday, Paris was the world capital of the fight against terrorism. It hosted both a mass solidarity march, joined by more than 1.5 million people, and a meeting of 50 world leaders, European interior ministers and the US Attorney General, Eric Holder, to agree upon new measures to prevent further terrorist attacks. One such measure is to strengthen control on the European Union’s external borders. Spain even suggested the reintroduction of border checks within Schengen borders, while Belgium proposed the creation of a European list of foreign combatants who join the Jihadist movement.
The latest opinion polls indicate that Europeans are increasingly worried about the growing number of fellow nationals joining Jihadist organisations such as the Islamic State, who train in states like Iraq and Syria and then return to their countries of origin to commit attacks such the recent ones in France. The participants in the Paris meeting agreed that a partnership with Internet providers was “indispensable” in order to identify and remove as soon as possible online messages inciting to hatred and acts of terrorism and promoting violence. The host of the meeting, the French foreign minister Bernard Cazaneuve, said he agreed with his counterparts in Europe and North America on the need to act globally and operationally.
He underlined it was necessary to consolidate cooperation among European intelligence services and develop a collection system for the data provided by airline passengers. The French minister said: “We all agree that we need to put in place better control on certain passengers, on the basis of objective criteria and with respect for fundamental liberties and without disrupting cross-border travel”. The official also stated that the European Union should urgently implement a Passenger Name Record database, to facilitate the transmission between different EU members of data on passengers suspected of terrorist activity. “We are convinced of the need for such a tool, to follow those who travel to terrorist operating theatres or who return from there,” he added. Bernard Cazaneuve also stressed the need to enhance cooperation between the judicial system and the police.
In a release issued last week, the European Commission warned that terrorist threat levels were raised across the European Union. The Commission wishes to improve instruments to combat money laundering and financing terrorism. The fight against terrorism will be in fact the number one topic on the agenda of the following European summit held in Brussels next week. US president Barack Obama also said Washington would itself host on the 18th of February a summit on the fight against violent extremism in the world.
