On Thursday 8 September, the EU counter-terrorism coordinator, Gilles de Kerchove, and several politicians and senior officials from Southern Mediterranean countries called for greater cooperation between the EU and the southern shore of the Mediterranean in the fight against terrorist organisations.
"The fight against terrorism is a challenge for the stability and security of the Mediterranean countries. This requires a collective and concerted response (...) No country can claim to be able to address the threat alone", said the governor director of general affairs at Morocco's ministry of the interior, Karim Kassi-Lahlou, at a conference organised by the European Parliament's S&D Group on the security dimension in the Maghreb.
This was a view shared by the director of the counter-terrorism division at Egypt's foreign affairs ministry, Khaled Azmy: "We must have solidarity. The terrorist threat concerns us all, be it from the north or south of the Mediterranean". "We need a much more global approach in the fight against terrorism, and our partners must have the same", he said, refuting the accusations that the countries of the area are responsible for the origin of terrorism. In Azmy's view, "military and security deployment will not allow an end to terrorism. Socio-economic measures are also needed. It's for this too that the support of the EU is essential. The support should be swift and strong".
The Europeans are ready to give this support. Following the Paris terrorist attacks in January 2016, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini called on de Kerchove to create a partnership between the European External Action Service and the intelligence services of neighbouring countries. In de Kerchove's view, cooperation is well advanced with Tunisia, Lebanon and Jordan, and the EU is in discussion with Egypt and Algeria and would like to do the same with Morocco. "Strengthened regional cooperation is needed. If there is one thing that we can export, it's our expertise on how to put together sovereign states on sensitive questions like this", de Kerchove stated, saying he wanted the cooperation not to be just between the EU countries, or between the EU and the southern shore of the Mediterranean, but also between the southern Mediterranean countries.
In de Kerchove's opinion, the EU can share its experience on justice, the fight against extremism, the protection of essential infrastructure, airport security and border security. "We have much to learn from you", he also told the conference participants. Kassi-Lahlou and Algeria's minister of Maghreb affairs, the African Union and Arab League, Abdelkader Messahel, gave details of the actions taken by their countries that could help Europeans. "Simple crack-downs will not be able to counter this scourge", Kassi-Lahlou stated, advocating a multi-dimensional approach. Together with Messahel, they described the experience of their countries as regards the training of imams, the management of mosques and education. Morocco also told several European countries about its experience with the training of imams through the training given by the Mohammed VI foundation, Kassi-Lahlou stated. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)