Date of release : 10-03-2005

Policy area : Justice and Home Affairs Justice and Home Affairs

To mark the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks in Madrid, the current President of the EU Council of Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs and the Luxembourg Minister for Justice, Luc Frieden, has called upon the European Union and its Member States to remain active in all areas to efficiently fight international terrorism. "Acts of terrorism against our democracy, our way of life and our economic structures should be fought with determination. Despite the success in preventing and suppressing terrorism, this threat remains, and the European Union has a key role to play within this context. We will not forget the innocent victims of Madrid and of other terrorist attacks", Minister Frieden stated.

On behalf of all his fellow Ministers for Justice and Home Affairs, the current President, Luc Frieden, made the Declaration of the Council to commemorate the terrorist attack of 11 March 2004 in Madrid.

"The 11 March 2004 will always be regarded as a tragic event that all Spanish people will remember and carry in their hearts.

Most of the victims of 11 March 2004 were on their way to work. The same evening, they were to join parents, spouses, children, and live their hopes and aspirations. Their lives were unique.

They were deprived of them and all of Spanish society has been made an orphan of these lost lives.

All of the European Union’s citizens are again paying their respects today to the victims and their families, because all its citizens felt affected on that day.

The European Union wishes to pay homage to the victims of the 11 March 2004.

It is doing so by mobilising all its resources and firmly supporting the Member States’ efforts to protect their citizens and to prevent another "11 March 2004".

Numerous measures have been undertaken, covering all areas, and reaching far beyond the European Union’s borders. They all make up a greater rational plan.

The European Union also wishes to pay its respects to the victims of 11 March 2004 by reasserting, more than ever, the values that all Europeans share and which are their common heritage: freedom and democracy which places the citizen at the centre of everything, values of tolerance and dialogue, of sharing, of refusing all forms of imposed violence, of mutual understanding and respect for the rule of law and human rights.

These values impel the European Union to promote, as far as possible, dialogue with all communities, without distinction. In order to preserve these values and all that they represent or imply, the Union’s battle against terrorism is necessarily one without concessions, but respectful of fundamental rights. The terrorist act is by definition diametrically opposed to our values of freedom and democracy; it is a negation of our values.

Terrorism does not only aim to destroy the lives of men, women and children who become its victims. Its final aim is to impose on our societies, and on each one of us, a feeling of fear which ultimately impinges on the freedom of us all: freedom of expression, freedom of movement, freedom to participate democratically in political life.

The European Union is determined to preserve the free, open and democratic nature of our society. Because the values on which it is founded are respectful of the rights of all citizens and promise a future, it intends to protect them against all forms of extremism. Terrorism is not only intolerable, it is also unjustifiable.

To this end, and over and above the specific measures which have been decided upon and continue to be taken, the European Union will continue to show its unfailing political will.

In the fight against terrorism, more than in any other area, the European Union has the responsibility to lead by way of example. It is firmly committed to this aim."