MEP calls for concrete internal and international security measures

Speaking during a European Parliamentary plenary in Strasbourg debating terrorism, MEP Therese Comodini Cachia said that citizens are right to demand action from the EU to protect their security. 

"We need to appreciate that our citizens are hit by fear and shock. They rightly demand that the EU and their countries act to ensure their security. We can only fulfil their demands through concrete cooperation on security measures between countries, but we also need to reconsider our internal security." 

Comodini Cachia affirmed that security threats transcend territorial borders and that strong internal and border security alone is insufficient when our neighbour does not have the same security capacity. 

Comodini Cachia stated that we cannot hide from the fact that following the Paris attacks, more citizens link terrorism to migration. Yet, she added, experts repeatedly tell us that we have our own citizens who are attracted to fight the very values on which our societies are built.  

 On that basis, Comodini Cachia claimed that there was a need to recognize both issues and act to address the abuse of migratory flows by those who are in bad faith when crossing borders, whether they are entering the European Union or leaving it to join radicalized groups.  “Using the security threats to perpetuate stereotypes is not be the way forward,” she said.

Comodini Cachia remarked that for a number of years we have heard that citizens' freedoms are under threat, yet she questioned what has been done do far.

“The outcomes of the Valletta Summit and the G20 meeting in Antalya cannot be only talk. They need the serious commitment of not only the European Institutions but also of governments. Governments must pay their dues to finance measures that address causes of radicalization, conflict and migration. They must not waste more time to cooperate by sharing security resources”.

In her conclusive remarks Comodini Cachia claimed that in addressing an ideology based on terror, the civil society also plays a major role.