EU Ministers Mull Response to Terror Threat in Europe
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - EU foreign ministers meet in Brussels on Monday to discuss the terrorist threat from homegrown radical extremists fighters returning from combat in the Middle East.
European countries are on high alert in the wake of deadly attacks in France and a wave of arrests in Belgium, where police foiled a suspected terrorist plot last week.
Ministers are expected to debate a range of options ahead of a planned summit of EU leaders on February 12 dedicated to fighting terrorism.
Police in France, Belgium and Germany have carried out dozens of arrests in recent days amid efforts to root out jihadist cells in the wake of the deadly attacks on satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket in Paris.
Belgian authorities have dismantled a group allegedly plotting to kill police, but the cell’s suspected mastermind, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, is still on the run.
Five people have been charged with “participating in the activities of a terrorist group”, while federal prosecutors have said they will seek the extradition of a sixth suspect who was arrested in Greece on Saturday, France24 reported.
Investigators have not established any links between the Belgian arrests and the terrorist attacks in France.
Meanwhile, police in Germany have banned a rally by the anti-Islamic PEGIDA movement planned for Monday in the eastern city of Dresden, citing a "concrete threat" of an attack against its leadership.
