News Analysis: EU gears up for different levels of fight against terrorism

The EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting freshly concluded on Monday, and the bloc's foreign ministers vowed to take actions on different levels to fight against terrorism.

The resolve was clear and firm, which seemed a promising signal for the possible long-term cause. And experts suggested that Europe can be better prepared to face the threat of terrorism and to respond to it more adequately. But it would be naive to believe that terrorism will ever be entirely eradicated.

DIFFERENT-LEVEL ACTIONS AHEAD

During the monthly Foreign Affairs Council meeting on Monday, the officials proposed to strengthen exchange of information, not only between the member states, but also with partner countries, and to reinforce cooperation with Arab and Mediterranean countries on countering terrorism and redoubling efforts on open conflicts and crises.

"We must build an alliance, a dialogue with these countries as we are facing common challenges," said EU Foreign Affairs chief Federica Mogherini at the press conference after the Foreign Affairs Council meeting.

At the security level, Mogherini called for input to share intelligence information not only within the bloc but also with countries around the EU "starting from the Mediterranean and the Arab world, Turkey, Egypt, Gulf countries, North Africa, but also looking to Africa and Asia."

The second point on the security level was that EU had "reinvited the European Parliament to work on the passengers name record, the PNR," said Mogherini, noting that a joint meeting of experts organized by EU and the United States together with Australia, Canada, Japan, Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and the UN agencies was to take place in Brussels on counter-financing of terrorist organizations, in particular Islamic State (IS) militants.

Regarding the second level of EU foreign ministers' decisions, they sought to raise level of cooperation both bilaterally and multilaterally with Arab and Mediterranean countries starting with the League of Arab States.

"The first victims of terrorism and terrorist acts are Muslims and Arab countries," she said, urging for work on developing a dialogue, an alliance of civilization and avoid any kind of perception of a clash.

At the third level, the foreign ministers decided to work on the cultural message, as the dialogue should not only take part between the EU and Arab Countries but also inside the EU with the Muslim communities.

DOMESTIC SECURITY AFFECTED BY FOREIGN POLICY

While immunity from terrorism is impossible, Europe cannot protect itself against this threat without acknowledging that domestic security is affected by foreign policy, particularly toward the Middle East, said Lina Khatib, director of the think-tank Carnegie Middle East Center.

Khatib labelled Syria was at the heart of this issue. He held that Syria's civil war had enabled al-Qaeda's revival in the Middle East. The resurrection had spurred al-Qaeda sympathizers in Europe to commit terrorist acts regardless of whether they had direct connections to Syria or not.

"The attacks show that foreign policy and internal security are intimately connected," said Rem Korteweg, research fellow at the center for European Reform, when referring to the bloody attacks in Paris earlier this month.

"The West has been hesitant in responding to recent crises in Yemen, Syria, and Iraq, and parts of these countries (and others in North Africa) are now incubators for jihadist terrorism," said Korteweg.

ROOT CAUSES TO BE SOLVED

Experts also pointed out that some terrorists in Europe were born, raised and recruited in the continent, so EU should make efforts to focus on its internal problems.

Francois Godement, senior policy fellow at European Council on Foreign Relations, said in a research that the debate regarding policy responses had highlighted a few points: the necessity of reforming education in France, reflecting public dismay at the anti-Semitism and support for violence among some underprivileged youth; the need to reform jails, since prison was a choice location for radical proselytizing; reform of the Schengen regime, to improve information sharing on Europe's internal borders and travel as well as to strengthen external controls.

Moreover, modern technology and the Internet made access to instruments of terror easier and the fight against terrorism harder.

"It is therefore likely that the number of individuals willing to conduct terrorist acts will rather grow than diminish," said Marcin Zaborowski, director of the Polish Institute of International Affairs.

In Zaborowski's opinion, Europe can be better prepared to face the threat of terrorism and to respond to it more adequately. But it would be naive to believe that terrorism will ever be entirely eradicated. Endit