15 Oct. 2002

Seminar on Europe's anti-terrorism defences Does Europe need a homeland defence policy and are the post-September 11 policy responses weakening or strengthening transatlantic relations were the two subjects which dominated discussions at a conference on the credibility of Europe's anti-terrorism defences, 15 October. The seminar was held in Brussels and was organised by the New Defence Agenda, the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Foundation and the Royal Institute for International Relations, Belgium. The panels included speakers such as the NATO Assistant Secretary General for Defence Planning and Operations, Dr Edgar Buckley, Professor Rob de Wijk, Head of the Research Centre, Royal Netherlands Military Academy, Sergey Oznobishchev, Director of the Institute for Strategic Assessments, Moscow and Ambassador Alexis Brouhns, Permanent Representative of Belgium to the EU Political and Security Committee. The speakers assessed the achievements and the shortcomings of efforts made by Europe since September 11 in fighting terrorism. They made a general plea for greater cooperation between members of the European Union in areas such as intelligence sharing, policing, border control, civil protection, consequence management and protection against weapons of mass destruction. The need for closer cooperation between the EU and NATO was also underlined, as well as for improved European military capabilities to meet the security challenges of today.