FRANCE-SHOOTING/EU UPDATE EU's Mogherini calls for alliance with Arab world to counter radical Islamist threat

Record ID: 324405

  • Title: FRANCE-SHOOTING/EU UPDATE EU's Mogherini calls for alliance with Arab world to counter radical Islamist threat
  • Date: 19th January 2015
  • Summary: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (JANUARY 19, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MOGHERINI ON CAMERA VIEWFINDER
  • Embargoed: 3rd February 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Belgium
  • Country: Belgium
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAAZ4ZWE9RU9H78T1UTHZ5JPP30
  • Story Text: The European Union's Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini called on Monday (January 19) for greater co-operation with the Arab world to combat the threat of radical Islam.
    Mogherini's comments came after a meeting between EU foreign ministers in Brussels as they sought a united response to the threat from militant Islamists following the attacks in Paris on January 7.
    "What we need is an alliance, a dialogue, a work together in co-operation because we are all facing the same threat and this, I think, is going to be something we need to work (on) more and more. Not only European Union and Arab countries but also inside the European Union with the Muslim communities and with all concept of minorities in (the) European Union but also the countries of the region," said Mogherini.
    The meeting aimed to lay the groundwork for an EU leaders summit on February 12-13 in Brussels which will cement the bloc's strategy to deal with young European Muslims heading to Middle East war zones or returning radicalised from the region.
    One idea is to place European security officials in EU overseas missions to collect and share information on the terrorism threat.
    "I've proposed to the ministers and agreed to the ministers that I, in my direct capacity, to strengthen and do even now on one side to have security attaches in all the European Union delegations in relevant countries. This means regular contact among professionals on our side and on the country that is hosting delegations side, to developed co-operation on security issues and counter-terrorist issues," Mogherini told a news conference.
    Priorities also include a crackdown on arms trafficking, support for police in the Middle East and North Africa, stopping EU citizens leaving to fight abroad and curbing radical Islam on the Internet to prevent them bringing violence back home.
    Mogherini also called for better communication with the Arab-speaking world.
    "I think we need to improve our capacity to speak Arabic, read Arabic, explain to the Arab-speaking population our policies, and also to listen to the messages that are coming from the Arab world," she said.
    The meeting in Brussels, which was attended by the secretary-general of the Cairo-based Arab League, Nabil Elaraby, also agreed to appeal against an EU court ruling that the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas should be removed from the bloc's terrorist list.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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