Roundup: Terrorist attacks in France prompt alarm, concern in Italy

Shock and concern after the shootings that killed 17 people in neighboring France last week have inflamed debate over terrorism menace and security response in Italy.

Italy, considered by international intelligence services as a major target of Islamic terrorism, acknowledged that Vatican City in Rome was a "possible target," after media reports said the United States have warned the seat of the Catholic Pope of possible acts of terrorism.

Though "no concrete signals of imminent attacks" have emerged so far, Italy was "not underestimating any hypothesis, not even the most tenuous," Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano told Radio 24 on Monday.

Security measures were tightened in the Jewish zone and around public offices, places of worship, broadcasters, embassies and monuments in the capital. "Italy is on maximum alert," the head of the Rome section of the Italian police's anti-terror squad Diego Parente said in a news conference.

But despite the increased control measures, Italians have appeared to be deeply concerned about the continued threat of terrorist attacks.

A study conducted by market research company Lorien Consulting after the Paris shootings said 46 percent of Italians think their country should not welcome the countless arrivals of sea migrants from North African and Middle Eastern countries.

Another survey released at the end of last week by SWG pollster said nearly 60 percent of Italians believe "Islam to be a peril for everybody."

Only 36 percent of respondents said Muslims - estimated to be around 1.2 million in Italy, nearly 2 percent of population, which makes Islam the second religion after Catholicism --should be allowed to practice Islam in Italian schools.

National newspaper Corriere della Sera on Monday underlined the need to accelerate moves to stop the flow of foreign fighters, such as a European Passenger Name Record (PNR) framework advocated by Italy during its presidency of the European semester set to officially end on Tuesday.

In order to combat terrorist propaganda, Italy - which has acknowledged the presence of four nationals among 53 foreign fighters known to local authorities for passing through the country on their way to or from combat zones - will also have to ensure that the Internet is not abused to incite hatred and terror, the Milan-based newspaper wrote.

"The government is making every effort to guarantee the country's security," Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said at a Senate briefing on Monday, while stressing, however, that the huge size of the menace "must generate concern."

Regarding the hypothesis circulated in media to modify the Schengen treaty - which allows legal residents of most EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland to travel across the zone with only minimal border checks - Gentiloni said the common aim was more information sharing, but "no European countries are speaking of suspending the system and restore borders."

"Sacrificing freedom would be an unacceptable price paid to terrorism," he stressed calling for European countries to combat Islamic fundamentalism together.

In fact, la Repubblica national newspaper noted, the attacks in Paris have highlighted the lack of a shared foreign policy at the European level. "The terrorist challenge in Paris was faced by national forces and not by a European defense system," the Rome-based newspaper wrote.

La Repubblica warned of the risks of "antieuropeism and xenophobia" that could mount across Europe, fueled by extremist political formations, if member States do not speak with one voice in the fight against terrorism. Endit