EU Commission: programme to fight terrorism and extremism. “Protecting citizens and urban spaces”

“The inclusive and rights-based foundations of our Union are our strongest protection against the threat of terrorism. By building inclusive societies where everyone can find their place, we reduce the appeal of extremist narratives. With today’s Counter-Terrorism Agenda, we are putting the focus on investing in the resilience of our societies with measures to better counter radicalisation and to protect our public spaces from attacks through targeted measures”. EU Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas said this as she presented the new programme under which the EU will “step up the fight against terrorism and violent extremism”. The Agenda, which seeks to support Member States in “better anticipating, preventing, protecting and responding to the terrorist threat”, is launched two years after the Strasbourg attack (11 December 2018). “The recent spate of attacks on European soil have served as a sharp reminder that terrorism remains a real and present danger. As this threat evolves - the Commission stated -, so too must our cooperation to counter it”. The counter-terrorism Agenda aims at: identifying vulnerabilities and building capacity to anticipate threats; preventing attacks by addressing radicalisation; reducing vulnerabilities to protect cities and people (critical infrastructure, urban resilience…); and protecting the victims.
Gianni Borsa