The EU as a terrorist target: why, where, and how

As an international actor, the EU can expect to win enemies as well as admirers. Two recent terrorist attacks in close succession – the first targeting an EU military mission in Bamako, the second in the ‘EU quarter’ in Brussels – seemingly confirm this.

They also lend weight to the argument that if member states want the EU to be a robust international actor, they must give it the counter-terrorist powers to protect itself. But is the EU facing a classic terrorist logic of action-and-reprisal and, if not, what exactly is the EU’s risk profile?

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Armed attack on EU training base in Mali http://www.europeansources.info/record/armed-attack-on-eu-training-base-in-mali/

ESO: Background information: Brussels attacks: Zaventem and Maelbeek bombs kill many / Terror hits the capital of Europe http://www.europeansources.info/record/brussels-attacks-zaventem-and-maelbeek-bombs-kill-many-terror-hits-the-capital-of-europe/

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