Sweden has called for an EU immigration crackdown to stop terrorism, with a right-wing slant on Muslims that risks sharpening division.
EU ministers should discuss in December how to prevent attacks such as the killing of two Swedish football fans by an Islamist extremist in Brussels on 16 October, the Swedish government said in a letter on Tuesday (7 November).
“Recently, we have once again seen the ugly face of terrorism show itself in the heart of Europe, when three Swedish citizens were gunned down [the third victim was injured] during a football match in Brussels, merely for being Swedish,” Sweden’s justice and migration ministers, Gunnar Strömmer and Maria Malmer Stenergard, said.
A 45-year old Tunisian, Abdessalem Lassoued, entered the EU via Italy in 2011 and lived in Sweden and Belgium before carrying out the lethal shooting.
It was “crucial that persons that might pose a threat to our countries and to the lives of our citizens are detected and identified when they try to enter the Schengen Area” before being deported “in a swift, secure, and effective manner,” Sweden said.
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The Schengen Area contains 400 million people in most EU states, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.
EU capitals needed to share more data on red-flagged individuals and further curb terrorist financing, as well as cracking down on external borders and deportations, the Swedish ministers said.
Previous terrorist attacks in the EU have prompted similar calls for action.
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