Event Summary:
On 21st August a man opened fire on a train in northern France but was luckily apprehended by two US Marines. According to reports, the man identified as Moroccan Ayoub El Khazzani was carrying multiple weapons among them an AK47 automatic rifle.
Khazzani, a jihadist known by European intelligence agencies was allowed to board a speed train as he roam freely in the region. The incident has raised alarm of the problems Schengen zone has caused by creating a borderless Europe.
EU members of parliament are therefore pushing for the formation of an intelligence agency that will be allowed to operate in all member states to help deal with the matters like the Khazzani incident.
Analysis:
Ayoub El Khazzani a Moroccan national who orchestrated the attack on Thalys Express train in northern France was a very well-known jihadist among the French, Belgian, Spanish and German intelligence agencies.
According the EU members of parliament the absence of a cross-border intelligence agency that is adequately funded especially in the Schengen area is the reason why jihadists are able to freely travel across the countries. The Borderless Europe policy brought about by the area exposes the larger Europe to terrorists and attacks.
The Schengen Area is an area comprising of 22 of 28 European countries that abolishes the passport and border control at internal borders. The member countries have a common visa policy making them a single country for international travel purposes. The area encourages free movement of money, people and goods as it eliminates internal borders and at the same time strengthens their policy with non-Schengen states.
The motion to have a joint anti-terror intelligence unit in Europe is sponsored by Guy Verhofstadt who is the leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) group in Brussels. The idea is set to help intelligence agencies in Europe share information and work together to pre-empt threats and apprehend terrorists.
Verhofstadt said, “In most major terrorist attacks over the past ten years, the perpetrators were known, but EU countries haven’t always worked together as effectively as they could have done to identify imminent security threats. A solution to this could be a fully-fledged EU intelligence agency, what we call a Eurintell.”
Conclusion:
Eurintell is aimed at redeeming the face of Europe which in the recent times is seemingly failing in the core role to protect its own people from attacks.
The formation the cross-border intelligence force is mainly aimed to boost the security in the continent ensuring that the extremist loose the one-step-ahead advantage they have enjoyed at the expense of the lives of innocent people.
The move to invest financially on the intelligence agency has majority backing as violent extremism has been reported on the rise in Europe. Additionally, the United Kingdom which together with Ireland has maintained opt-outs in the Schengen Area feel the need for the counterterrorism force is a lasting solution to violent extremism and terror attacks in Europe.
photo courtesy
