Europol, the European Union’s law enforcement agency, indicated Wednesday that the number of attacks within the EU member states has decreased, yet terrorism still poses a real and present danger to the bloc.
In its annual European Union Terrorism Situation and Trend Report (TE-SAT), the Europol affirmed that 15 completed, foiled and failed terrorist attacks were recorded in the EU in 2021, a decrease from 57 attacks in 2020. It attributed this improvement to the significant drop in the number of attacks reported as left-wing terrorism.
The Hague-based agency warned that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic pose a threat to global security in the future.
Executive Director of Europol Catherine De Bolle stressed that terrorism remains a key threat to EU’s internal security.
“Undoubtedly, the geopolitical shifts and the fallout from Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine will have a lasting impact on the EU’s security for years to come,” De Bolle said.
She noted that the war has already attracted several radicalized individuals from member states who have joined the fight on both sides, adding that it is likely to spark violent extremist reactions and mobilization, particularly in the online domain.
She underscored the importance of taking heed of the lessons learnt in the past in dealing with foreign fighters returning from battlefields in the Middle East.
According to the report, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on terrorism was particularly visible in terms of shaping extremist narratives.
“This has made some individuals more vulnerable to radicalization and recruitment into terrorism and extremism.”
It explained that social isolation and more time spent online have exacerbated the risks posed by violent extremist propaganda and terrorist content, particularly among younger people and minors.
Violent anti-COVID-19 and anti-government extremism, which is not affiliated with traditional violent extremist and terrorist activities, emerged in some member states and non-EU countries.
Such forms of violent extremism materialized in open threats, hateful messages spread online and, in some cases, the use of violence.
In 2021, 388 individuals were arrested in member states for terrorism-related offences.
Most of the arrests (260) were carried out following investigations on militant terrorism in France, Spain and Austria, the report noted.
