Shooter attack in Belgium drives an EU push to toughen border and deportation laws
Associated PressBRUSSELS — Abdesalem Lassoued had been denied residency in four European countries by the time he chased two Swedish men into a building in Brussels this week and gunned them down at close range with a semiautomatic rifle. Within days he has become the new face of the European Union’s campaign to toughen border controls, rapidly deport people and allow the police and security agencies to exchange information more efficiently. “It’s important that those individuals that could be a security threat to our citizens, to our Union, have to be returned forcefully, immediately,” EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson told reporters on Thursday, as EU interior ministers met in Luxembourg. With EU countries constantly bickering over how to manage migration – their differences lie at the heart of one of the bloc’s biggest political crises – the European Commission has sought to outsource the challenge. “The terrorist that committed an attack in Brussels on Monday had asked for asylum in four different European countries, and every time he was rejected because he did not qualify for protection,” de Moor said.
History of this topic
Shooter attack in Belgium drives an EU push to toughen border and deportation laws
The IndependentDiscover Related
)
)
