Guns and Glory: Criminality,
Imprisonment, and Jihadist Extremism in Europe
Breaking the Links Between
Criminality and Terrorism Key to European Security
(New York, N.Y.) - Terrorist groups are recruiting
and radicalising criminals in an effort to carry out attacks on
European soil. A new joint study by the Counter Extremism Project
(CEP) and the European Policy Centre (EPC), Guns
and Glory: Criminality, Imprisonment, and Jihadist Extremism in
Europe, reveals the dangerous and evolving nexus between
criminal and terror groups and what European governments must do to
break the link.
Through detailed case studies of 10 European countries, the study
documents the complex problems of countering jihadist radicalisation
and the challenges the continent is facing. The 10 countries studied
include: Albania, Belgium, France, Germany, Republic of Ireland,
Kosovo, North Macedonia, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the United
Kingdom.
Terrorist groups, in particular ISIS, are increasingly recruiting
individuals with criminal backgrounds and using their skills and
connections in the criminal world to enhance their ability to carry
out attacks. Prisons in Europe—many of which are underfunded and
overcrowded—often act as incubators for jihadists while also
facilitating the expansion of networks between criminals and
terrorists.
Report co-author and CEP Senior Advisor Ian Acheson said: “It is
not difficult to conclude that there is a systemic failure in how we
are currently approaching jihadism and radicalisation. A state alone
cannot defeat the terrorist threat. We face a serious and enduring
threat from terrorist organisations in Europe. Prisons are
incubators—there is a steady stream of vulnerable, often violent
people coming in, many with personality disorders, mental illnesses
who feel aggrieved and alienated. To tackle this problem, we need to
be as agile as those who seek to do harm.”
The study was officially launched on September 24 in Brussels with
a keynote speech from current EU Commissioner Sir Julian King,
President of EPC and former President of the European Council Herman
van Rompuy, and Paul Van Tigchelt, Director of the Coordinating Unit
for Threat Analysis (OCAM), Belgium.
To read the report, Guns and Glory: Criminality, Imprisonment,
and Jihadist Extremism in Europe, please click here.
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