Brussels, 05/01/2004 (Agence Europe) - After the European Commission, the ECB, Europol and Eurojust, it is now the turn of the European Parliament to receive a letter bomb. A press release states that an anonymous letter addressed to the president of the EPP-ED Group, Hans-Gert Pöttering, exploded on Monday morning when being opened by a colleague. No-one was injured, the press release states. Shortly after, José Maria Salafranca, of the same group, received a similar package, which was not opened but handed over to the Belgian police.
In a statement, CFSP High Representative Javier Solana strongly condemns the recent series of letter bombs sent to the presidents of both European bodies - the European Commission (Romano Prodi, in Bologna), the European Central Bank (Jean-Claude Trichet, in Frankfurt), as well as to Europol and Eurojust. Expressing his solidarity with the persons and bodies targeted, Mr Solana says: "Our respective security services have stepped up their action and coordination to ensure the safety of all institutions and their leaders". (See EUROPE of 30 December, p.3, and 31 December, p.3).