EU?s Role in Fighting Terrorism

AuthorJana Maftei
PositionDanubius University of Galati, Faculty of Law
Pages791-798
EU’s Role in Fighting Terrorism
Jana Maftei
Danubius University of Galati, Faculty of Law, janamaftei@univ-danubius.ro
Abstract. International terrorism, a phenomenon with constant development, is today a
certainty and has dramatically marked the beginning of this c entury and millennium. This
problem has reached a global dimension and it represents a concern to the entire international
community. Over the time, numerous international and regional r egulations have been framed, in
order to prevent and combat terr orism. The European Union c ondemns terrorist acts and
recognizes the central role of the United Nations, in fighting against terrorism and promoting
security, as well as the contribution of the new NATO in what concerns the defense and security
promotion. Europe has to act more firmly in order to consolidate the defense against terrorism
and the European Union’s borders. At the same time, the European Union considers that only a
concerted and firm action from all the states and the major actors on the international scene
would lead to the identification of the solutions which can contr ibute to the efficient fight against
terrorism and, by these means, provide for the international peace and security. The proportion of
the danger t errorism represents has turned the fight against this phenomenon in an international
community’s desideratum.
Key Words: criminal international law, international cooperation, NATO, security.
1. Introductive considerations
International terrorism is one of the most debated issues in the last few decades, but also one of the
most argumentative. Several jurists, politicians, researchers from different fields- sociologists, political
scientists and economists - have sought to identify the essence of the terrorist phenomenon, by
studying its causes, forms of manifestation and formulating the characteristic features that individuates
it.1
Terrorism is not a ‘creation’ of the modern era, is as old as the first violent act in the history of
humankind2 and even if it has been used since the beginning of history3, it is quite difficult to define.4
This difficulty could relate, according to a Romanian author, to the fact that terrorism could not be
defined as being a phenomenon in its essence.5 A study in 1988 counted 109 definitions of terrorism,
that refer to 22 different characteristic features6 and in 1999, t he American terrorism expert Walter
Laqueur counted over 100 definitions and concluded that “the only general feature admitted is that
terrorism implies violence and threatening with force”.7 A relatively recent analysis counts over 240
1 Duculescu, Victor, Intr oductive Study on the paper « International terrorism- s courge of the contemporary world » ,
authors: P opescu, Ilie; Popescu, Nic olae; Rădulescu, Nicolae, Ed. Ministerului dministraţiei şi Internelor, Bucharest, 2003,
p.9
2 Ferchedău-Muntean Magda et allii., Terrorism.History, forms, fight. Study collection, Ed. OMEGA, Bucharest, 2001, p.7
3 “When did everything star? Some say a thousand and three hundred years ago, when Prophet Mohammed received the
Koran knowledge. Some say that began with the first crusade, initiated by Pope Urban the secon d in 1095. Others say that it
began with the disappearance of the Ottoman Empire in 1918. Some say it began together with the French and British
imperialism exerted in the Middle East. Some s ay it began with the discovery of oilfields in Saudi Arabia and the set up of an
Arab American oil company in 1943. Some say it began with the Declaration of Independence of Israel in 1948. Some say it
began with the Iraq invasion in Kuwait that led to the Golf War, followed by an embargo that proved to be devastating for
the Is lamic population of Iraq. Some say that it began with the set up of secular repressive governments, in the Islamic
countries in Middle East and North Africa that supported activities by excluding the dissidents form dialogue.”- Williams,
Paul L., Al Qaeda- Terror Fraternity, Ed. Lucman, Bucharest, 2004, pp.244-245
4 http://www.terrorism-research.com/
5 Bodunescu, Ion ,Terrorism- global phenomenon, Casa Editorială ODEON, Bucharest, 1997, p.14
6 Schmid, Alex P.; Jongman, Albert J. et allii, Political Terrorism: A New Guide to Actors, Authors, Concepts, Data Bases,
Theories, and Literature, New Brunswick, NJ:Transaction Books, 1988, pp. 5-6
7 Laqueur, Walter, The New Terrorism: Fanaticism and the Arms of Mass Destruction, New York: Oxford University Press,
1999, p. 6
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