Of Tunisia to Italygoing by Sweden to return to Italy again and end up living irregularly in Belgium. The itinerary followed by Abdessalem Lassooued, the alleged terrorist who this week murdered two Swedish citizens in the center of Brussels and who ended up shot dead by the police, has been given as an example this Thursday by the Interior Ministers of the European Union why it is necessary tighten immigration controls, strengthen police cooperation and deport quickly to those people who represent a danger for European internal security, particularly in the face of an eventual increase in “radicalization” and “polarization” following the escalation that the Middle East conflict.
“This terrorist in Brussels has been a warning. A Tunisian citizen who arrived in the EU 12 years ago, who has been here since 2011, without the right to be on EU territory, with asylum applications rejected several times. I understand that “This is not the time to blame everyone, but this is a warning sign,” the Home Affairs Commissioner admitted. Ylva Johansson, after the meeting of ministers held in Luxembourg. “It is essential to guarantee that the EU is safe, protected from terrorist threats. We have to be sure that we do not have here extremism, violent antisemitism, Islamophobiathat all our citizens are safe and to achieve this we need more police cooperation,” he added.
A cooperation to which the Twenty-seven have committed. “We have analyzed the implications that the conflict (in the Middle East) may have on the internal security of the EU. We will strengthen internal security through strong police cooperation in the EU and with third countries, which already exists and is important,” he explained. the acting Spanish Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska. “There are specific places that may need a higher level of protection,” she added without specifying what those places are but emphasizing that they make a constant assessment of the risks.
Avoid radicalization
The Twenty-Seven has also spoken of the need to fight against radicalization, “and against those who, protected by misinformation, fuel the hate speech such as anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and racism.” A problem that, according to Brussels, affects increasingly younger people. “We are talking about an age group of 11 to 14 years, which is the age group most at risk of radicalization and is something that demands measures,” said Johannson, who also stressed the need to urgently accelerate the review of the return directive to expel people who do not have the right to remain on European territory, particularly those who pose a threat to security.
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Although the rate of returns has increased by 20% this year, the level of people expelled compared to the percentage of negative decisions taken in the EU remains very low. “Member States have to cooperate better. We cannot afford to have 27 different return systems. We have to be more efficient,” Johannson urged. “It must be an obligation for all of us,” acknowledged the Swedish Minister of the Interior, Gunnar Strommer, who together with his Belgian counterpart, Annelies Verlinden, has also called for more exchange and cooperation between the security forces.
“I note that in both Belgium and France it was two people of foreign nationality who committed these attacks, so from now on we have to put into practice the immigration pact that we have negotiated to take the control of our borders and register people. Let’s do the security interviews before studying any asylum application,” said the French Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin. As announced by Commissioner Johansson, Brussels has asked the European return coordinator to convene an “extraordinary meeting” this Friday to discuss with Member States “how to ensure that people who pose a security risk to the EU can return more quickly to their countries of origin”, something he says “has to be a priority”.