Brussels, 16/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Saturday 14 February, the European Union condemned the attacks that had taken place in Copenhagen, Denmark, the same day, firstly at a cultural centre where a debate on freedom of expression was due to take place and then, a few hours later, at a synagogue.
The attacks, committed by a suspect later shot dead by Danish police, left two people dead and several wounded. Just over a month after the Paris attacks on the satirical publication Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket, European Council President Donald Tusk condemned these events. “Once again Europe is shocked by what appears to be another brutal terrorist attack targeted at our fundamental values and freedoms, including the freedom of expression”, he said in a press release.
“Our determination to fight all kinds of extremism and terrorism is only strengthened by such attacks. This determination was confirmed by all EU leaders at our meeting in Brussels only two days ago”, he stated.
On 12 February, European leaders had said in a joint statement that they were determined to fight terrorism, stressing that they wanted to see the European PNR system adopted rapidly and tougher controls at the EU's external borders, focusing on European citizens deemed to be high-risk. They also raised the possibility, should it prove necessary and at a later date, of reviewing the Schengen borders code. Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said in a letter to the Danish government that “violent acts, which try to undermine the security of citizens and their right to express themselves freely, are simply not acceptable”. The Commission “is determined to take the necessary steps that will help Denmark and all other EU Member States become more secure”, he stated.
Denmark has faced numerous threats since the publication in 2005 of caricatures of Mohammed. As a proportion of its population, Denmark also has one of the EU's highest rates of young people going off to Syria. At Thursday's summit, Denmark gave its full support to the statement by European leaders. Copenhagen backs deeper discussion on current Schengen borders code rules with a view to modernising controls at the external borders. The EU countries decided on 12 February to introduce without delay systematic and coordinated checks on European nationals when crossing the external borders of the EU. Denmark also supports, as a second stage, amendment of the Schengen borders code to further strengthen these efforts. The idea behind amendment is to introduce permanent checks on European nationals where necessary.
The country still has an opt-out on justice and home affairs but has been part of the Schengen area for over 20 years. It is not, however, involved in tools, such as the European PNR directive, which it supports but which has yet to be passed by the European Parliament. More problematic for Denmark is that it could soon find itself sidelined from cooperation with Europol. Denmark has worked with Europol for 16 years but reform of the agency is due to come into effect this year. Being no longer bound by rules that came into force after the Lisbon Treaty, the country may have to leave Europol. It is partly for this reason that the government and the opposition agreed in October of last year to hold a referendum in 2016 on the Danish opt-out in justice and home affairs. This referendum will take place no matter the outcome of the general election due to be held this year. (Solenn Paulic)