About: EU counter-terrorism strategy Archives

The European Union will review railway security on high-speed international lines after last week's foiled attack in France. But officials warned on Monday (24 August) against overreaction.

Inserting counter-terrorism into European Union foreign policy could undermine the EU's stance against the death penalty, warns Iverna McGowan.

Europe's moderate Muslim allies – Turkey and Azerbaijan – might be the key to the fight against terrorism, writes Joshua Noonan.

Over the past two centuries, abuse of antiquities and fine art has evolved from the “spoils of war” into a method of financing terrorism. Nowadays, both the US and UK are concerned about antiquities trafficking as a source of funding for ISIS, leading to calls for international cooperation to counter the market, writes Erik Nemeth.

Whether the Taliban reasserts control within its borders and across them, what happens in Pakistan really matters to Europe and the rest of the world, writes Richard Howitt.

In the wake of the terror attacks in Copenhagen, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on European Jews to emigrate to Israel, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged protection for Jews in Germany. EURACTIV Germany reports.

European Union leaders called on Thursday for “systematic” checks on travellers entering the passport-free Schengen area but fell short of heeding to French and Spanish demands for rewriting the Schengen border code.

Green and Liberal MEPs are resisting the proposal for a pan-European Passenger Name Records (PNR) database in the face of mounting political pressure before a summit this week in which heads of state will press them to adopt the measure urgently.

Many immigrants reaching Italy’s shores cannot or do not want to be identified, posing a security threat to the whole of Europe in terms of terrorism and criminal infiltration, says Alessandro de Pedys, the Italian Ambassador to Poland.

The borderless Schengen area is a great accomplishment that should be protected and defended, says Peter Knoope. Giving in to terrorism by undermining basic rights is simply not an option, he argues. 

The Merkel government approved a new law meant to mitigate radical Islamist attacks, by making it a criminal offence to travel abroad to receive military training. Civil rights advocates are furious. EURACTIV Germany reports.

The European Union needs to bring Internet companies fully on board in its fight against home-grown militant Islamists, the bloc's interior ministers said on Thursday (29 January).

European Union foreign ministers on Monday discussed setting up a new network of European security agents abroad, as they sought a united response to the threat from militant Islamists following the attacks in Paris on 7 January.

European foreign ministers meeting in Brussels yesterday (19 January) agreed that they need to engage in more dialogue with Europe’s neighbouring Islamic countries to deal with extremism, whilst simultaneously rebutting the Russian news narrative in Eastern Europe.

Western fighters in Syria and Iraq have found some of their most willing recruits in tiny Belgium, a chilling trend highlighted by the killing of suspected terrorists by police on Thursday (15 January) and which likely has its roots in the despair many feel at home.

Belgian police killed two men who opened fire on them during one of about a dozen raids on Thursday (15 January) against an Islamist group that federal prosecutors said was about to launch "terrorist attacks on a grand scale".

From allowing spies greater access to communications and extending phone taps to collating databases of air passengers, European governments are looking to expand the powers of their security agencies after last week's Paris attacks.

Under a new draft law, German authorities could soon be able to confiscate the IDs of suspected terrorists. But opposition parties in the Bundestag warn against considerable risks for security policy. EURACTIV Germany reports.

The European Union has pledged closer cooperation in the fight against terrorism following the killing at Charlie Hebdo, building on measures already taken in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US, and subsequent bombings in Madrid and London. EURACTIV gives a round-up of existing and upcoming initiatives.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an accused the West on Monday of hypocrisy for its stance over the attack on satirical journal Charlie Hebdo and hostage-taking at a Jewish supermarket in Paris, while failing to condemn anti-Muslim acts in Europe.

European heads of states attended a mass Paris demonstration on Sunday, displaying unity against terrorism after a bloody week that saw 17 victims killed in France, including seven journalists at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. EURACTIV France reports.

European Union governments and officials are discussing responses to the killing of French journalists in Paris and could propose new policies in the coming weeks, officials said on Thursday (8 January).

The CIA rendition scandal laid bare the British government’s failure to live up to its international obligations and protect the basic rights of its citizens, writes Sajjad Karim.

Liberal Members of the European Parliament reacted with anger at a report by the US Senate, which confirmed torture allegations and secret rendition flights of suspected terrorists operated by some European countries during the US war on terror.