The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, said on Monday 18 February that she was ready to work on ideas to coordinate Member States' actions regarding the repatriation of foreign combatants, while recalling that this was a national competence.
On Saturday, February 16, US President Donald Trump called for Europeans to take back 800 jihadists captured by Americans in Syria and this issue seems to be increasingly urgent with the near fall of the Caliphate.
"We have not made a decision and there is no decision to be taken at European level. This remains a national competence, although I have offered Member States the availability of our services to work on ideas on how to coordinate positions in this regard, to explore the different possibilities in addressing this issue [...] and to offer, at a European level, the opportunity to understand what possibilities may arise and thus to provide a coordinated joint reply”, she explained to the media. A European source indicated that this could be in the form of exchanges of information or good practice.
Ms Mogherini gained support for her approach from several ministers. "We would like the countries in Europe affected by this issue to consult with each other and look at what the best solutions may be”, explained the Belgian, Didier Reynders. He also specified that it had not been excluded that the countries of the region, such as Iraq, would like to judge jihadists on their own soil. "We will try to see to what extent we can adopt a common position or, in any case, the extent to which we can select common ways to deal with the issue”, he added. According to a French source, Jean-Yves Le Drian stated during the sitting that this was a "complicated and politically sensitive" issue among Member States and that it was necessary to try to cooperate.
European coordination, however, is likely to be difficult, both because the subject requires complicated coordination within a Member State itself, and also because the Member States are divided on the subject of the return of combatants.
Upon his arrival at the Council, Slovak Minister Miroslav Lajčák said he would “certainly be in favour” of such a return. Mr Reynders himself said that Belgium had decided to return all children under 10 years of age and that it would examine the cases of jihadists on an individual basis.
The German, Heiko Maas, was cautious. “German citizens have the right to return home, but we have few means on the ground in Syria to check whether German citizens are actually affected”, Maas explained. According to him, the authorities will have to “verify the extent to which they were involved in fighting for Daech, which would lead to the opening of criminal proceedings against them”. “These people can only come to Germany if we are certain that they can be immediately detained”, he added.
As for the Hungarian Minister, Peter Szijjarto, it is out of the question to take back combatants. “This is certainly the biggest challenge facing us in the coming months [...] Our main effort now should be not to allow them to return to Europe”, he added, believing that they should not be allowed to re-enter Europe. "The road to the Western Balkans must be kept closed”, he added. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)