Brussels, 02/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - In Tunis last week, Gilles de Kerchove, the European counter-terrorism coordinator, met the head of the Tunisian government, who suffers the threat of terrorism on a daily basis.
Strong pressure at the Saharan borders of Tunisia arouses such concern that de Kerchove wants increased international cooperation throughout the countries of the region. “The EU is committed to supporting Tunisia's efforts in its fight against terrorism”, said de Kerchove, as reported by the Tunisian news agency.
This support should take the form of an “exchange of information and permanent coordination”, he said, following his meeting with Tunisia's prime minister, Habib Essid. Essid spoke of his country's “determination to fight this scourge, in permanent collaboration and coordination with the neighbouring countries”. He stated that “the terrorist danger [was] a common challenge for the whole region”.
Terrorism is a “cross-border and cross-continent phenomenon” that needs “regional and continued international coordination” in order to address it, Essid stated. In his view, the strategy must be “multi-dimensional” regarding security, development, the social, economic and educational levels, and awareness-raising. Essid confirmed Tunisia's measure of “giving more weight to its cooperation with all the stakeholders - especially the countries of the European Union”. (Fathi B'Chir)