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Italian interior minister Alfano (c) announced the end of the Mare Nostrum sea rescue operation (Photo: consilium.europa.eu)

Europe at risk of 'huge number' of returning jihadist fighters

The EU is planning to step up border checks and passport controls to counter the threat of returning jihadist fighters.

“We may be faced soon with returns, huge returns from Syria and Iraq,” the EU’s counter-terrorism co-ordinator, Gilles de Kerchove, told reporters in Luxembourg on Thursday (9 October).

He said the US-led airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) in Syria could prompt European nationals fighting alongside the jihadists to go back home.

“Airstrikes give incenti...

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Author Bio

Nikolaj joined EUobserver in 2012 and covers home affairs. He is originally from Denmark, but spent much of his life in France and in Belgium. He was awarded the King Baudouin Foundation grant for investigative journalism in 2010.

Italian interior minister Alfano (c) announced the end of the Mare Nostrum sea rescue operation (Photo: consilium.europa.eu)

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Author Bio

Nikolaj joined EUobserver in 2012 and covers home affairs. He is originally from Denmark, but spent much of his life in France and in Belgium. He was awarded the King Baudouin Foundation grant for investigative journalism in 2010.

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