Press Release
Luc Frieden at the European Union Institute for Security Studies: Coherence and partnerships to counter terrorism

Date of release : 07-03-2005

Policy area : General Affairs and External Relations

In Brussels a few days prior to the first anniversary marking the terrorist attacks in Madrid, the Luxembourg Minister for Justice and Defence, Luc Frieden, called for more coherence between European Union policies aimed at combating terrorism and an active partnership between the EU and its allies to effectively fight international terrorism.

In his opening speech at a Luxembourg Presidency seminar on the role of the European Defence Policy in the fight against terrorism, Luc Frieden underlined that the current aim of international terrorism is to destroy our democratic societies, our way of life and our economic structures. Despite the success in preventing and suppressing terrorism, this menace remains, and the European Union has a key role to play in this context.

The European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) must, according to Luc Frieden, become more ambitious in this area and utilize all its military and civil capacities to the full in order to take preventive action, protect forces and infrastructures, to manage the consequences of terrorist attacks and to support third countries. The Luxembourg Minister underlined the crucial role in the fight against terrorism of the EU tasks aimed at stabilising third countries by the use of military means and the building of democratic States that observe the principles of the rule of law.

For Luc Frieden, the role of the ESDP and of the European policy on justice and the police must go hand in hand if we are to effectively reduce and combat terrorist actions. He made a strong plea for coherent action on the part of the Union, which no longer distinguishes between external and internal security, as the two are now inextricably linked.

Faced with international terrorism, the current President of the Council of the Ministers for Defence, Luc Frieden, also demanded that the European fight against terrorism be conducted in partnership with UNO, NATO and the United States.