The threat of terrorism “has not diminished and still persists” in Europe, despite the loss of Islamic State territories in Syria and Iraq, according to the head of Europol’s Counter Terrorism Centre, Manuel Navarrete. EURACTIV’s partner Euroefe reports.
“In Europe, we continue to be very vigilant. The threat is significant and takes many forms. We are talking about more than 20 incidents in 2017, from well-planned attacks such as in Barcelona and Manchester to less prepared ones”, Navarrete said in an interview at Europol’s headquarters in The Hague (Netherlands).
The colonel from the Guardia Civil (the Spanish police force) has been at the helm of the European Counter Terrorism Centre since January 2016, and his department works to “strengthen (the EU’s) response to terror”.
According to Europol (which has not yet submitted its annual report), 980 arrests linked to jihadism were recorded in Europe last year, slightly below the 1,000 arrests a year earlier.
On the consequences of terrorism, Manuel Navarrete pointed out that “even if the threat persists, the number of victims has decreased,” in 2017 there were around “68 deaths” as a result of Islamic attacks in Europe, compared to 135 in 2016.