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From: TT
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Photo: Wiktor Nummelin / TT
EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson will meet with journalists in Brussels ahead of Friday’s web meeting with Member State Justice and Home Affairs ministers.
Religion and migration are not threats, underlines the European Commission when the ministers of the interior of the member states discuss the fight against terrorism. Commissioner Ylva Johansson calls for even more cross-border cooperation.
Actually, Friday’s meeting with the extra-appointed Interior Minister would have been mainly about Johansson’s new proposals on the migration side. However, after the last weeks of events in Paris, Nice and Vienna, the question of terrorism has once again become a major issue, also on the day five years after the terrorist attacks in Paris on November 13, 2015 .
– Although we are much better equipped today than we were five years ago when it comes to the fight against terrorism, much remains to be done. This applies above all to cooperation between member countries, says the Interior Commissioner on his way to Friday’s session in front of the computer.
Magnet training?
France and Austria have called for more joint action and have openly targeted Islamist extremism.
However, in the joint statement to be produced now, the earlier word choices on Islam and migration have been toned down.
– It is not a religion that is a threat. Religion is not a threat. On the other hand, terrorists are a threat, and terrorists can base their distorted worldview on both extreme Islamism and right-wing extremism, and both sides must be fought, says Ylva Johansson.
She is also skeptical about the introduction of any form of magnet training organized by the EU, to which the President of the EU Permanent Council, Charles Michel, spoke in favor.
– It is a bit difficult for me to see that it would be the competence of the EU to train religious leaders. On the other hand, it is now stated in the draft declaration that training within the member states should be supported.
Horror online
Since Friday’s meeting, a joint statement against terrorism and promises to implement things that have already been supported and drenched for several years within the EU machine are expected.
An example is how terrorist propaganda can be quickly removed on the Internet. Now a deal is underway, which, however, has been faced with fears that it will also affect legitimate opinions or journalism.
But Ylva Johansson doesn’t think so.
– It is very clear in the proposal on the table that it is only a clear terrorist propaganda. Sometimes the good becomes the best enemy and you have to be careful with that. Of course, we must defend freedom of expression. At the same time, it should not mean that we cannot protect our societies and our citizens from serious threats. It’s about finding the right balance.
Closed borders?
In early December, Ylva Johansson will present a new counterterrorism strategy from the European Commission. The key word is cooperation.
– We need to strengthen Europol and we must ensure that we can use sufficiently effective tools on the Internet to find these threats and deal with them.
She does not believe in closed borders.
– I do not believe that today’s security threats or pandemic threats can be dealt with effectively with closed borders. Rather, it’s about the need to better protect ourselves digitally. This is where we can be much more efficient within the EU, says Johansson.
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