Luxembourg, 07/10/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 7 October 2010, the United States confirmed that there is a terror threat in the European Union. Speaking in Luxembourg after a meeting with his EU counterparts and Jane Holl Lute, the French interior minister, Brice Hortefeux, said that Holl Lute, deputy US homeland security secretary, had confirmed to the EU that there is a terrorist threat in the EU, but had not given details of the intended targets. He said that this was a genuine threat with a number of Europeans trained in Afghanistan and Pakistan who are likely to return to Europe with bad intentions. Last weekend, the United States urged US citizens travelling in Europe to be extremely cautious, telling them that Al Qaida was planning terror attacks in Europe. The US official, however, reassured her EU partners that the US had the job of keeping its citizens informed without alarming them, said Hortefeux. Belgium's interior minister, Annemie Turtelboom, said that the news from the US had generated some uncertainty among the EU27 Member States, adding that unlike Europe, the United States has the legal obligation to provide all the information at its disposal to US citizens. She said that the variety of reactions among the EU Member States to the warning from the US should encourage the EU to improve cooperation in communication matters to avoid creating panic. The ministers and the US representative plan to meet annually at ministerial level to discuss terror threats, and will continue to share information among intelligence services by more traditional channels. At EU level, the Member States should share information about their various alert thresholds, said Turtelboom, but without calling for direct harmonisation. She said the EU should cooperate with Sitcen to ensure that every Member State receives advance warning of an increased security alert in another country rather than having to find out about it from the media. (B.C. trans fl)