Brussels, 15/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - With nearly 1,200 Europeans currently believed to be fighting in Syria, some with groups linked to Al Qaeda, according to data currently available, the European Commission on Wednesday 15 January presented a raft of 10 recommendations to help member states prevent radicalisation processes.
The communication of the Commission which was adopted on Wednesday is based on two years of research by the Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN), which was set up in September 2011 in the wake of the crimes committed by Anders Behring Breivik in Oslo and Utoya, and is made up of 700 experts and practitioners in the EU. The Commission proposes “stepping up the EU's action against radicalisation and violent extremism”, as activities related to terrorism and violent extremism have evolved and constitute a “growing threat within the European Union”.
At a press conference, Commissioner Cecilia Malmström referred, amongst others, to the example of Golden Dawn, a Greek extreme-right political party which was behind the murder of rapper Pavlos Fyssas. The commissioner explained that, although it is difficult to define extremism and target it within the EU, repressive efforts should focus above all on “discourse inciting people to commit violence”, whether it comes from the right wing or the left or from religious militants.
Referring to the hundreds of Europeans who have left for Syria in the name of jihad, a subject which has been of great concern to t EU home affairs ministers for months, the commissioner stated that the figures available could have been underestimated. François Hollande, the French president, said on Tuesday that there were currently 900 French citizens in Syria. In early December, the French home affairs minister Manuel Valls put the number of French fighters at 400. “These fighters could constitute a threat to the EU when they return”, Malmström said.
Among the possible courses of action, the Commission is proposing the creation of a European knowledge hub for violent extremism, the creation of training programmes for front-line workers and financial support for projects using modern communication tools and social media. The member states are also called upon to create deradicalisation programmes, making it easier for members of extremist groups to turn their backs on violence and the underlying ideologies, the Commission explains.
The European anti-extremism centre, for example, will help to fund research into the phenomenon and will be granted funding of €20 million over the period 2014-2020 (the budget will also be used for other activities, such as those of the RUN network). The Commission also urges the member states to develop deradicalisation strategies, if they have not already done so. The commissioner cited Germany and Sweden as good examples of this within the EU. For example, Germany has “responsibility education programmes” in prison for young people sentenced for extremist violence and the repeat offence rate amongst these young people is reported to be far lower than average.
The Commission's other proposals include working with third countries, granting EU funds to arrange training sessions or to support the media and other local prevention initiatives on the ground, or working with civil society and the private sector to stem the tide of radicalisation via the internet. (SP/transl.fl)