European terror attack ‘inevitable’, EU officials claim

Senior EU officials have said that a major Islamist terror attack in a European centre is increasingly likely, with Islamic State (Isis) members who were raised in Europe returning from the fray in Iraq and Syria.

An anonymous official working in this area told the Guardian and other newspapers that while member nations are experiencing intense pressure from the US to tackle the threat posed by their citizens fighting in the Middle East, they are struggling to prevent domestic atrocities from taking place. A number of schemes are being suggested, including an EU-wide Passenger Names Record (PNR) to track potential suspects on EU flights.

The official said: “We have clear signals that this is what the foreign fighters are doing. This is the main threat we are facing. The home affairs council is very aware and very frightened of this… The colleagues in the police administration just don’t know how to cope. They all fear this could be totally out of control. It may already be too late.”

Meanwhile Gilles de Kerchove, who is responsible for managing the EU’s counter terror policy, said that help would be sought from social media companies like Facebook and Google in order to combat Isis propaganda: “We want these companies to develop a counter-narrative.”