On Friday 9 December, EU interior ministers discussed monitoring of counter-terror measures based on a note from the EU counter-terror coordinator, Belgium’s Gilles de Kerchove, which gave them a series of options and analysis.
According to de Kerchove’s memo, 2,000 to 2,500 Europeans are still in Syria and Iraq. As a proportion of the total number of foreign fighters, some 15% to 20% have died in combat and 30% to 35% have returned to Europe. The latter are now a potential security...