 The President of the European Commission Romano Prodi said the War on Iraq certainly did contribute for an upsurge of terrorist attacks. In an exclusive interview with MaltaMedia.com, Professor Prodi said he hopes that the recent terrorist attacks in Madrid will help to make people and governments understand that the European Union must have a common foreign policy and a common home policy to better fight terrorism.
Professor Prodi told MaltaMedia.com that the EU has done enormous progress in the fight against terror but it cannot guarantee 100% security. "That is almost impossible," Prodi said, "but we must do our best to reduce any possibility of terrorist actions."
Asked whether be believes that the threat of terrorism increased with the War on Iraq, Professor Prodi said it certainly did contribute for an upsurge of terrorist attacks. "A year has passed since Iraq was attacked. Seeing what happened in Turkey, Russia and now in Spain, shows me that this war did not decrease the threat of terror, but it has increased it." Professor Prodi said the public opinion in Europe was unanimously against the war on Iraq because it imagined what the consequences might have been.
MaltaMedia.com asked the President of the European Commission whether the Madrid attacks could help EU member-states reach an agreement on a common foreign policy. "A common foreign policy would help in this fight against terrorism but it is so difficult to build it. We have worked for years and years to reach an agreement on a foreign common policy. Perhaps the Madrid attacks will help to make people and governments understand that a common foreign policy and also a common home policy are indispensable," he replied.
European Commission chief Romano Prodi said the Madrid blasts should be a wake-up call for EU anti-terrorism measures. He said EU leaders must quickly respond to the Madrid attacks by agreeing on new concrete measures to fight terrorism.
A spokesperson for the European Commission told journalists on Monday that whenever a member state is the victim of a terrorist outrage it is the duty of the Union to act quickly and decisively to provide all possible support and assistance. The official spokesperson said the EU will do its utmost to bring the perpetrators to justice and to prevent the terrorist threat from moving to other EU territories.
Meanwhile, a high-level group of 27 top European industry executives and policymakers on Monday presented the report Research for a Secure Europe to Prodi. The report describes the need for increased European funding and co-ordination in security research and also outlines 12 recommendations for the future, including an urgent call for a minimum of €1 billion (Lm400 million) to be spent annually to develop technology in this area.
The group, chaired by European Commissioners Philippe Busquin (Research) and Erkki Liikanen (Enterprise and Information Society), was convened last October in order to present their vision for a future European Security Research Programme from 2007.
President Prodi welcomed the report and said that the tragic events in Madrid highlight "the urgency and importance of being prepared against old and new threats to our security." He said the Madrid attacks show that the damaging effects on the daily life of the European citizens can be enormous. "This report opens a new area of activity in which the added value of closer cooperation, joint efforts and increased investment at EU level is indisputable. That is why we have included security research in our blueprint for the EU's financial perspectives for 2007 - 2013."
European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin said technology alone cannot guarantee security, but security without technology is impossible. He added that: "With our € 65 million preparatory action on security research and recommendations made by these industrial and political leaders, we are paving the way for an ambitious European security research programme by 2007."
(Pierre J. Mejlak is in Brussels as part of a stage for journalists organised by the Malta-EU Information Centre. This report is being distributed to all media but does not represent the views or policy of the MIC.)
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