Threat without borders

Paris, Berlin, Brussels. A wave of attacks, blitz and arrests is shocking Europe. The fight on terrorism is without borders. In France, the United Kingdom, and Germany the alarm is high. In Belgium the situation is hot after the police operation in Vanviers, a city on the border with Germany, where two alleged Jihadists were killed. “The terrorism-threat of the past hours in Belgium – said Claude Moniquet, a major expert in anti-terrorism, director of ESISC (European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center, in Brussels), told Maria Chiara Biagioni for SIR Europe – is important as in all other European countries and it is bound to the situation in Syria: there are thousands of European jihadists in Syria”. How serious is the terrorist-threat in Belgium these days? “The anti-terrorism operation in Verviers has enabled to contain this threat. It can be said that it has been a very important operation, as further attacks were being planned. The arrest and death of people involved limit this threat, which however is still strong”. How many people are linked to jihadism? “It’s hard to say. What can be assumed is that there are between 400 to 600 people of Belgian nationality or living in Belgium that are still tied to Syrian groups or who have been in Syria, or who intend to go there. There are several dozen Belgians who have been sentenced on charges of terrorism. And there are also hundreds of supporters. So it wouldn’t be wrong to say that in Belgium there are some 700 to 1000 dangerous people”. How can so many people be tracked down? “In fact, this is the problem. There are few police officers and the means are not proportionate to the seriousness of the threat. In the years a great effort has been made in this direction but it can’t be imagined that security could be doubled or tripled. And even if that were decided to be a solution, there wouldn’t be enough officers to track down everyone. When a suspect is under surveillance, or in situations such as the operation in Vanviers, 20 to 30 officers are needed as 6 to 10 policemen need to be on spot for 8 hours running… This means that the present 1000 suspect would require at least 20 to 30 thousand policemen. And the police force available at present amounts to several hundred”. Does this mean that prevention is a battle lost from the onset? “No, I’m saying that the fight on terrorism must use appropriate, modern means, from email interceptions to informers. It’s equally important to target the most dangerous figures and carry out an analysis on the dangers that each of the suspects pose. For example, a Belgian MP proposes that people condemned for acts of terrorism be compelled to wear an electronic bracelet to be constantly localized. I think it would greatly help security”. You have said that the operations in Venviers were important because the terrorists were planning attacks. Could you be more accurate? “I cannot provide too many details for reasons related to the ongoing inquiry, but we know for sure that the terrorists arrested with the operation in Vanviers were planning attacks in Belgium against various targets, including the police”. We’re facing a European-scale threat. Are terrorists linked to each other? And how? “They are. We must focus beyond the national level. Past May 24 there was an attack in Brussels against the Jewish museum by a 30-year-old man from Syria. The responsible of the attack was French: he entered Syria and committed his attack in Belgium. So it’s possible that in the future a Belgian may carry out an attack in France. Or a German may carry out an attack in Italy. The threat is multinational and for this reason the exchange of information between the police forces and intelligence in different European and world Countries is extremely important”.