As a result of terrorist attacks in Europe, the German interior minister proposed a broad range of measures to bolster security and combat terrorism. Many of the measures, which include closer monitoring of refugees and enhanced surveillance, seem likely to win legislative approval. The proposals announced by the interior minister call for hiring more federal police officers; making it a crime to express sympathy for terrorism; greater sharing of intelligence data across Europe; closer monitoring of the "dark Web", the part of the Internet that is invisible to ordinary users; stripping dual citizens of their German citizenship if they fight for extremist groups; and making it easier to deport foreigners deemed to be dangerous. Such measures are the simplest any country should take to combat one of the plagues of the modern age.

The minister also stressed that more security in Europe would mean more security in Germany itself, and thus called for joint efforts throughout Europe to restrict the movement of terrorists through more cooperation amongst European security agencies. The minister also called more social care for refugees in Germany and highlighted the need to empower them to report in their own language any changes or tendencies towards extremism they might notice in their roommates or relatives, especially since many of them have already committed some disgraceful acts.

Such measures have become an international fear and it is important to have regional cooperation to fight terrorism that widely prevailed after 9/11. In fact, sabotage or assaults against facilities or public figures had always been described as violations of states' domestic or foreign security. What makes acts of terror complex is the fact that some use them to express mixed and confused goals. Modern challenges, in view of technological advances, call for more up-to-date methods in fighting terrorism.

By Labeed Abdal