On Sunday the 11 of September, 10 years will have past since the horrible attacks in New York. The day will of course be commemorated all around the world. The day brings back a lot of memories and I imagine we all still remember what we were doing the day of the attack, when the planes flew into the World Trade Centre towers, and nearly 3,000 people died. Terrorism still remains a threat today. Increasingly, attacks are taking place where the terrorist is a single person. We do not know enough to fully understand the processes that lead to radicalisation and make people commit violence, be their acts motivated by religious, left- or right extremism.
It is therefore of particular importance for me to be able to launch the Radicalisation Awareness Network today, which will bring people together who are working at the local level to prevent radicalisation. All over Europe there are field workers, researchers, teachers, community leaders, religious and youth leaders who are working to try to identify and help individuals that risk becoming radicalized and committing violent acts. Today we are connecting these people in a European network. The network will share methods and experiences but also assist the Commission and Member States in preventing terrorism. The Commission funds a secretariat that will assist the Network. Of course you can never find completely foolproof methods to prevent terrorism but I believe that this network can serve as an extremely important tool in preventive work. In addition to representatives from Member States, Norway was also invited to join the network so that others might learn something from their horrific experiences from this summer. You can read my speech here and see the Press Conference here.
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