The EU on Thursday supported the advisory that Washington issued telling American travellers to beware of potential terrorist threats in Europe, and said the bloc should improve its security policies and its consultations with Washington.
After meeting privately with Jane Holl Lute, the deputy US Homeland Security secretary, the European Union interior and justice ministers agreed the Americans "have a lot of reasons" for the alert, said Belgian Interior Minister Annemie Turtelboom, who chaired the meeting.
"We have no reason to question the threat level indicated by the United States," added European Union Interior Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom. Brice Hortefeux, the French interior minister, told reporters: "The threat is real" and Europe must work "hand-in-hand with the Americans."
The US believes a cell of Germans and Britons are at the heart of a terror plot against European cities, a plan they link to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Pakistani officials said this week that eight German militants were killed in a US missile strike in Pakistan. Thursday's EU endorsement of the US alert was a victory for Washington, given how surprised some European governments had appeared when it was issued Sunday.
At the time, Britain warned British travellers to France and Germany that the threat of terrorism in those countries is high. Germany said it saw no need to change its assessment of risks to the country, and France said the threat of a terrorist attack was real but that the country was not raising its alert level. EU officials did not elaborate on Holl Lute's briefing, and she did not speak to reporters after meeting with the Europeans.
Officials said Holl Lute did not name targets but made a credible case for the terror alert. The EU's role in fighting terrorism is limited. It monitors and co-ordinates the exchange of terrorist data but has no operational role in pursuing terrorists.
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