Magazine / Politics / Counter Terrorism / From the press | 27/07/2007

Freedom or Security?

The exchange of data, video surveillance and biometric passports are all measures European politicians believe are necessary to protect the population against terrorist attacks. But won't these measures curtail freedom and human rights excessively?

euro|topics-Dossiers on Terror and Anti-Terror Laws

Main focus of Wednesday, 4. July 2007

How should Europe tackle terrorism?

In the aftermath of the failed terrorist attacks in Great Britain, the media discuss the appropriate and effective means for fighting terrorism. While the British ... » more

Main focus of Monday, 2. July 2007

Terrorist alarm in the UK

Just a few days after Britain's new Prime Minister Gordon Brown assumed office, a burning car crashed into Glasgow's airport terminal and two car bombs ... » more

Main focus of Friday, 13. April 2007

Europe faced with terrorist threat

The terrorist bombings perpetrated this week in Morocco and Algeria have revived fears of terrorist attacks in Europe and instigated renewed debate in several countries ... » more

Main focus of Monday, 11. September 2006

September 11 - five years on

The September 11 attacks on New York and Washington shook the world. At the time, people said the world would never be the same. Five ... » more

Main focus of Thursday, 24. August 2006

The terrorist threat in Europe

Recent weeks have seen a resurgence in the fear of terrorism on European soil, ever since British and German authorities revealed alleged terrorist plots against the two countries. A ... » more

Main focus of Wednesday, 16. August 2006

Anti-terror laws and civil rights

After the discovery of a planned terrorist attack on airplanes, and almost five years after the attack of September 11, several European countries are planning ... » more

Main focus of Tuesday, 15. August 2006

The malaise of Britain's Muslims

The United Kingdom last week announced it had foiled a series of terrorist attacks. Those suspected of plotting them are British citizens of the Muslim ... » more

Main focus of Friday, 11. August 2006

The fear of terrorism surges up in Europe

A year after the terrorist attacks on London's public transport system the British police has apparently been able to prevent another devastating attack. According to ... » more

Main focus of Thursday, 6. July 2006

Muslims in Europe

On the eve of the first anniversary of the July 7, 2005 attacks in London, European Muslims are condemning the tendency to confuse Islam and ... » more

Main focus of Friday, 7. July 2006

One year after the London attacks

On July 7, 2005, London's public transport was struck by four suicide attacks. This tragic anniversary is an opportunity to reflect upon the steps taken ... » more

Main focus of Wednesday, 31. May 2006

EU court defends passengers' privacy

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on Tuesday, May 30 that the EU acted illegally when it gave a green light in 2004 to ... » more

Main focus of Wednesday, 26. April 2006

Tourism and terrorism

After the terrorist attacks in the Egyptian resort of Dahab in which over 20 people died, European commentators ask why terrorists have repeatedly targeted tourists. ... » more

Main focus of Friday, 24. February 2006

Amnesty denounces UK antiterrorist policy

In a report published on February 23, the human rights organisation Amnesty International accuses the United Kingdom of contravening basic human rights with its antiterrorist ... » more

Viewpoints

I Kathimerini - Greece | Monday, 25. June 2007

Nikos Konstadaras looks at the power of the camera

The proliferation of cameras could be the foundation of a culture of surveillance, akin to Orwell's 1984. However, Greek editor Nikos Konstandaras writes that on ... » more

Sme - Slovakia | Thursday, 28. December 2006

Maros Balo on Islamic fundamentalism

Slovak economic analyst Maros Balo accuses Europe of being less aware of the dangers of Islamic fundamentalism than the US. He fears "that to prevent ... » more

Libération - France | Tuesday, 19. December 2006

Tzvetan Todorov warns European democracies to be on their guard

For the Franco-Bulgarian philosopher Tzvetan Todorov, European countries may risk, like the United States before the military intervention in Iraq, "putting aside the truth" if ... » more

New Statesman - United Kingdom | Monday, 11. December 2006

Ziauddin Sardar criticizes British literary neoconservatives

"Novelists are no longer just novelists - they are also global pundits shaping our opinions on everything from art, life and politics to civilisation as ... » more

ABC - Spain | Thursday, 16. November 2006

Edurne Uriarte rejects the Alliance of Nations

Edurne Uriarte, Spanish professor of political science, criticises the 'Alliance of Civilizations' between the Western world and the Eastern world, an initiative proposed by the ... » more

Le Jeudi - Luxembourg | Thursday, 14. September 2006

Jean Portante on the American anti-terrorist struggle

Jean Portante, writer and journalist from Luxembourg, considers the anti-terrorist struggle lead by the United States over five years. "September 11th allowed White House strategists ... » more

Libération - France | Monday, 11. September 2006

Nicole Bacharan and the reach of September 11th

The newspaper invited 13 public figures to give their opinion on September 11th, among whom Nicole Bacharan, United States specialist. According to her, "the 11th ... » more

Financial Times Deutschland - Germany | Thursday, 7. September 2006

Tariq Ramadan's appeal to Europe's Muslims

The newspaper publishes an 'Appeal to the Muslims in the West' written by the philosopher and Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan in the run-up to the ... » more

die tageszeitung - Germany | Thursday, 31. August 2006

Yassin Musharbash on new Jihadists

The journalist Yassin Musharbash has analysed the change in the al-Qaida terror network and Jihadism since the attacks of September 11, 2001. "The new Jihadists ... » more

La Repubblica - Italy | Thursday, 17. August 2006

Tzvetan Todorov on European values against terrorism

The Franco-Bulgarian philosopher Tzvetan Todorov believes the Old World would be better placed to fight terrorism than the United States. "Although America is stronger than ... » more

El País - Spain | Wednesday, 28. June 2006

The anti-terror fight according to Dick Marty

The Swiss MP, Dick Marty, presented his report on the CIA's secret flights in Europe to the Council of Europe on Tuesday, June 27. Questioned ... » more

Süddeutsche Zeitung - Germany | Tuesday, 27. June 2006

Herfried Münkler's formula for combating terrorism

Political scientist Herfried Münkler makes a brief analysis of the phenomenon of modern terrorism and has some laconic advice for those living in countries under ... » more

Die Zeit - Germany | Thursday, 29. December 2005

Michael Scheuer on the CIA's Fight against Terror

"The CIA has the right to break any law apart from American law – as all secret services do, points out Michael Scheuer who, as ... » more

24 heures - Switzerland | Tuesday, 19. December 2006

Claude Monnier reminds us of the rules of the democratic game

"Democracy is the best of political systems, on condition, however, that each of its participants plays, in a clean and thorough manner, the part that ... » more

The Debate

Süddeutsche Zeitung - Germany | Monday, 9. July 2007

The Guantanamisation of Germany?

German Minister of the Interior Wolfgang Schäuble is no longer a cautious opponent of terrorism; he has become obsessed with it, writes Heribert Prantl commenting ... » more

The Daily Telegraph - United Kingdom | Monday, 9. July 2007

Terrorists exploit immigration loopholes

"In an unforgivable act of neglect that is now exacting such a terrible price, this government has lost control of the nation's ports of entry", ... » more

Financial Times - United Kingdom | Friday, 6. July 2007

The "War on Terror" needs a change in vocabulary

Philip Stephens, a columnist for the daily, analyses the strategy behind the Gordon Brown government's change to the vocabulary used by Tony Blair. "Britain's new ... » more

Népszabadság - Hungary | Thursday, 5. July 2007

Doctors as suspected terrorists

Why are doctors, of all people, the suspects in the foiled attacks on London and Glasgow? asks Endre Aczél. "The al-Qaida terrorist network is a ... » more

Hospodářské noviny - Czech Republic | Tuesday, 3. July 2007

In favour of a joint European anti-terrorism policy

According to reports on American television, last weekend there was also the danger of a terrorist attack on the airport in Prague. Adam Černý expresses ... » more

Le Monde - France | Saturday, 21. April 2007

The freedom of Internet users in France is under threat

The daily is alarmed by the French government's preparation of a decree for the application of the 'bill on confidentiality in digital economy'. This would ... » more

El Periódico de Catalunya - Spain | Thursday, 12. April 2007

Spain is worried after the terrorist bombings in North Africa

"The bombings perpetrated on Tuesday in Casablanca and yesterday [April 11th] in Algeria show that the Al-Qaeda organisation is very active in North Africa", considers ... » more

De Volkskrant - Netherlands | Wednesday, 31. January 2007

The Dutch concerned by the threat of terrorism

The Dutch daily analyses the conclusions of the 'Jihadi Terrorists in Europe' report published by the Clingendael Institute. "The report leads us to understand that ... » more

Svenska Dagbladet - Sweden | Thursday, 25. January 2007

Bugging operation in Sweden

The conservative Swedish defence minister, Mikael Odenberg, has presented a revised draft of a new bugging law that would allow the FRA – the ministry ... » more

Svenska Dagbladet - Sweden | Monday, 11. December 2006

Insufficient protection of privacy

Protection of privacy is not highly ranked in Sweden. That is the result of a new study in which the British human rights organization Privacy ... » more

The Daily Telegraph - United Kingdom | Thursday, 2. November 2006

The UK surveillance society

"We are the most spied-upon society in Europe, with more CCTV cameras than the rest of the EU combined", laments the daily. "New Labour has ... » more

The Daily Telegraph - United Kingdom | Friday, 22. September 2006

Europe's proposals on terrorism

Following meeting of EU Justice and interior ministers on Thursday, September 21st in Finland, the daily opposes the European Commission's and the Finnish presidency of the ... » more

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung - Germany | Tuesday, 5. September 2006

Compromise on German terrorism data

After years of argument, the German interior minister, Brigitte Zypries, and his counterparts in the German states have reached agreement on a common database designed to ... » more

die tageszeitung - Germany | Monday, 21. August 2006

Fear of terrorism in Germany

The arrest of a suspected terrorist in connection with a failed attempt to blow up regional trains has triggered renewed debate on the subject of ... » more

Der Standard - Austria | Monday, 14. August 2006

The fight against terrorism in the EU

Thomas Mayer says he can't believe how uncoordinated the EU's reaction has been to the revelations about the planned attacks in London. "It's hard to ... » more

The Independent - United Kingdom | Monday, 14. August 2006

British values are threatened

"So these jihad-jumping nutcases don't threaten our values. They threaten our lives perhaps, but not our values," writes columnist Simon Carr of the suspected terrorists ... » more

Berlingske Tidende - Denmark | Thursday, 3. August 2006

A DNA register for Denmark?

Denmark is discussing the introduction of a DNA register. Advocates of the idea say such a databank would make it easier to identify the victims ... » more

Rzeczpospolita - Poland | Saturday, 29. July 2006

The different definitions of terrorism

Jedrzej Bielecki notes with dismay that whether somebody is branded a terrorist and described as good or evil differs from country to country and is ... » more

The Guardian - United Kingdom | Friday, 21. July 2006

Minister appeals for more prisons, tougher sentences

The daily is skeptical about a newly unveiled criminal justice review by Home Minister John Reid that calls for building more jails and handing down ... » more

The Guardian - United Kingdom | Tuesday, 6. June 2006

Anti-terror raid and trust in Muslim community

The daily comments on last Friday's [June 2] anti-terror raid on a house in East London. The operation, in which a young Muslim suspect was ... » more

El País - Spain | Thursday, 1. June 2006

The anti-terror fight and ethical principles

Giovanni Fava, the chairman of the European parliamentary commission investigating CIA activities in Europe, stresses the importance of re-establishing ethical principles in the anti-terror fight, ... » more

The Guardian - United Kingdom | Friday, 12. May 2006

July 7 bombing inquiries fail to draw proper lessons

Two reports by the government on the July 7, 2005 suicide bomb attacks in London, issued Thursday, May 11, leave important questions about intelligence failures ... » more

Der Standard - Austria | Thursday, 16. February 2006

The Air Security Act

Germany's constitutional court has ruled that the Air Security Act, which authorises the Bundeswehr (the German armed forces) to shoot down a passenger plane if ... » more

The Independent - United Kingdom | Tuesday, 14. February 2006

British ID cards get boost in parliament

The daily denounces Tony Blair's plan to introduce national identity cards, after the House of Commons voted to require anyone applying for a new passport ... » more

The Independent - United Kingdom | Tuesday, 17. January 2006

National biometric identity cards

"It is time for Tony Blair to recognise that the tide has turned decisively against his plans to establish a national identity cards scheme," the ... » more

Le Jeudi - Luxembourg | Tuesday, 17. January 2006

Protecting personal data

"Without succombing to excessive Orwellian-style paranoia, the growing number of ways for identifying individuals raises legitimate concerns and questions," observes Jacques Hillion, an editorial writer ... » more

New Statesman - United Kingdom | Wednesday, 11. January 2006

Terror fight threatens freedom

Author and journalist John Pilger asserts that "freedom is dying" in Britain as the government uses the anti-terror fight as a pretext for stifling dissent ... » more

Libération - France | Friday, 23. December 2005

Anti-terrorism lays siege to civil liberties

Patrick Baudouin, a lawyer and honourary president of the International Federation for Human Rights (IFHR), expresses alarm over the growing number of special anti-terrorist laws ... » more

Der Spiegel - Germany | Tuesday, 20. December 2005

The Work of the Secret Services

Since Germany's Minister for the Interior, Wolfgang Schäuble, voiced his opinion that German investigators should be allowed to use information obtained from terrorist suspects using ... » more

Further articles on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Crime and Law, » Europe
More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Crime and Law, » Europe