Attacks spur EU to weigh tough border, anti-extremism steps

European Union interior ministers on Friday weighed new measures to counter extremist attacks following a series of killings in Austria and France in recent weeks by lone-wolf attackers with links to Islamic groups.  ministers met via video conference on fifth anniversary of one of bloodiest attacks in recent memory on European soil, Islamic State-claimed ramp in Paris that killed 130 people at a music hall and cafes on v. 13, 2015. Austria and France want ir partners to agree to tighten Europe’s border controls, better tackle “terror content” and propaganda online, and monitor or detain jihi fighters who’ve returned to EU countries and are eir in prison or at large.

ministers are also considering a proposal to train imams in Europe. It comes after an attack in Vienna on v. 2, when a man who officials said h tried to join Islamic State group shot four people to death in Austrian capital before police fatally shot him. shooting strengned calls in Austria for a crackdown on Islamic extremism.

In France last month, an extremist killed three people in a church in French city of Nice, and a Chechen teenr beheed a teacher near Paris because he h shown his students cartoons of Islam’s prophet for a discussion about freedom of expression.

EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Gilles de Kerchove said on v. 3 that Islamic State group doesn't appear to be actively preparing any attacks in Europe, but it continues to inspire individuals or small groups to commit atrocities.

Given difficulty of garing solid evidence against so-called foreign fighters in conflict zones like Syria or Iraq, many former jihis who’ve been jailed have only received sentences of three to five years, de Kerchove said, and some are w living freely in Europe. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has branded m “ticking time bombs” that are “a permanent danger among us.”

Kurz has also deunced “political Islam, ricalization” in Europe that has become “ poison, breeding ground for terrorism.” That dovetails with French President Emmanuel Macron’s planned law to fight “separatism,” which is aimed at rooting out those espousing rical Islam in France.

European Council President Charles Michel has referred to a “battle of values” with extremists.  training given to imams practicing in Europe does t sufficiently take into account our fundamental values, in particular freedom of thought and equality,” he wrote in a newsletter on Thursday.

He said that EU should support any initiative aimed at “promoting an Islam which unequivocally embraces European values,” and “setting up one or more educational and training institutions for training imams.” EU leers will discuss proposals from Friday's meeting at a summit on Dec. 10-11.