EU discussieert over maatregelen tegen alleen opererende terroristen (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - An Oslo-type of attack would be hard to prevent in any EU country, since the 'lone-wolf' terrorist went to great lengths to avoid being detected, an EU counter-terrorism expert has said.
"It's true that nobody expected what happened last Friday," Timothy Jones, advisor to the EU counter-terrorism co-ordinator, told reporters on Thursday (28 July) after a snap meeting of EU and Norwegian anti-terror experts.
Expressing his "admiration" for the calm and measured way Norwegian leaders have dealt with this "shocking" event, Jones said that such an attack could have been carried out in any EU country, because the perpetrator put a lot of effort into avoiding detection by the police and intelligence services.
Anders Behring Breivik, the self-confessed mass murderer of 76 people killed by a car bomb in central Oslo and a separate shooting spree on an island last Friday, had set up an organic farm to cover for the fact that he was buying large quantities of fertiliser to fabricate the bomb. He also legally owned the two assault rifles he used in the attack.
EU experts, pending the results of the Norwegian investigation, are now looking at the possibility of making stricter rules on access to chemicals that can be used to make bombs, such as ammonium nitrate and hydrogen peroxide. Further restrictions on the sale of weapons may also be taken into consideration, Jones said.
Examining the psychological mechanisms that make someone with radical ideas turn to violence is also on the table. "There is a lot of academic work about this, but we're trying to get some workable input that people on the ground - social workers, policemen - can use," he explained.
But the counter-terrorism expert also acknowledged the limitations of this approach, like if a person such as Breivik, a 32-year old highly educated Norwegian native, never gets in touch with social workers or police. "We try, but we can never guarantee this will succeed," Jones said.
The expert also rejected criticism that the EU may have been focusing too much on jihaddists and neglecting rising right wing radicalism.
Counter-terrorism experts always look at "the whole spectrum of radicalism," he said, noting that the rise of right-wing extremists were flagged up in Europol's latest reports.
"But it's also important to remember that it is not the ideology which triggers these people to become terrorists. A lot of people have radical ideas and don't turn to violence. There are other factors, they are alienated individuals trying to make a point about the way they see the world. In some cases they chose al Qaeda ideology to pursue that, in other cases they may choose another ideology," he noted.
An intensification of surveillance measures is however likely to happen, Jones said, with more focus on "analysing what groups are saying on the internet, looking at people's travel patterns and suspicious financial transactions."
Norwegian security
Meanwhile, the Norwegian authorities have also announced they will review their security strategy.
An independent commission is set to "look at all aspects" of the deadliest attacks the Nordic country experienced since World War II, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday.
Breivik's claims that other people in Norway and abroad are part of his deadly plans are being investigated, but Norwegian security police chief Janne Kristiansen said there was no evidence found so far to sustain his claims.
"We don't have indications that he has been part of a broader movement or that he has been in connection with other cells or that there are other cells," she said, adding that Norwegian authorities were in close contact with authorities in countries.
Security measures have been tightened in Oslo, and the central station was briefly evacuated on Wednesday after a false bomb alert.