'European FBI' should be formed to tackle terrorism, says French politician
'Borders no longer exist. It is important we understand the necessity of European collaboration'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A “European FBI” must be formed to tackle terrorism in the wake of the Barcelona attacks, a French politician has urged.
Georges Fenech, a former Les Républicains MP, said collaboration between European countries was imperative following a spate of deadly attacks using similar modus operandi on the continent.
Mr Fenech, a former president of the 2015 inquiry into France’s terror attacks, said Europe was “at war” with terror and called for an overhaul in how the extremist threat is managed.
“Borders no longer exist. It is important we understand the necessity of European collaboration...a proposition that I would put forward would be a kind of European FBI, a real common intelligence base to stop these basically completely unchallenged border crossings. We are moving forward,” he told BFMTV.
“We are arriving late in this war being waged by the jihadists. Today it is Barcelona, tomorrow whose turn will it be? We need to change tack and stop repeating the same old mistakes.”
It comes after Spanish police shot dead five suspected terrorists attempting to carry out an attack in a seaside resort just hours after a van ploughed into crowds on Las Ramblas in Barcelona, killing at least 14 people.
More than a hundred people were injured in the two attacks and detectives say they believe them to be linked.
Authorities believe a cell of at least eight people may have been involved and had been planning to use gas canisters, according to a judicial source.
A similar style of attack was thwarted in Paris last year after a suspected group of Isis supporters abandoned a car filled with gas cylinders near Notre Dame cathedral.
Officials said they had been planning to attack one of Paris’ largest railway stations.
In July last year, a Tunisian Isis supporter killed 86 people by ploughing a lorry into crowds celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, then in December, 12 victims were killed by another Isis militant who drove a lorry into a Berlin Christmas market.
In the first terror attack claimed by Isis in the UK, Khalid Masood drove a car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, killing four people before stabbing a police officer to death outside the Houses of Parliament in March 2017.
Another attacker hijacked a lorry and drove it down a high street and into a department store in Stockholm in April, killing five people.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments