The EU should quickly set up a body to oversee the training of imams and ensure their messages to Muslim followers do not contribute to spreading an "ideology of hatred", the President of the European Council said on Monday.
Charles Michel was in Vienna with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, a day before he will attend a video conference on the European response to terrorism, organised by French President Emmanuel Macron.
Europe has suffered two terrorist attacks over the past 10 days in the Austrian capital Vienna and the French city of Nice.
"To fight the ideology of hatred, we need to set up as soon as possible a European institute to train imams in Europe," Mr Michel, who heads the council of the EU's 27 heads of government, said on Twitter.
"Online messages glorifying terrorism must be quickly removed. There must be no impunity for terrorists and those praising them on the internet."
On Monday, Mr Michel and Mr Kurz stood in front of candles during a ceremony at the site of the extremist attack in Vienna.
Mr Kurz said that the EU needed to work together to stop foreign terrorists.
“[We need] a robust, co-ordinated approach against foreign terrorist fighters," he said.
"There are thousands of people who tried to leave Europe in the past couple of years in order to murder in Syria, Iraq or somewhere else.
“Some have returned, some were arrested by the authorities and couldn’t leave to begin with.
"But they had the idea to commit murder in Syria and Iraq. Some are still in prison but others are already free again. These people are ticking time bombs.”
Mr Kurz, a longtime critic of mass immigration, also called for proper protection of the EU’s external borders.
On Friday, EU interior ministers will hold a regular meeting in which they are expected to discuss Covid-19, the recent attacks and new measures to prevent them.
Dawn raids on Monday against groups suspected of operating on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas were carried out by Austrian police in a major crackdown.
Officers made 30 arrests in more than 60 raids under anti-terrorism laws, the Austrian government said.
Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Top tips
Create and maintain a strong bond between yourself and your child, through sensitivity, responsiveness, touch, talk and play. “The bond you have with your kids is the blueprint for the relationships they will have later on in life,” says Dr Sarah Rasmi, a psychologist.
Set a good example. Practise what you preach, so if you want to raise kind children, they need to see you being kind and hear you explaining to them what kindness is. So, “narrate your behaviour”.
Praise the positive rather than focusing on the negative. Catch them when they’re being good and acknowledge it.
Show empathy towards your child’s needs as well as your own. Take care of yourself so that you can be calm, loving and respectful, rather than angry and frustrated.
Be open to communication, goal-setting and problem-solving, says Dr Thoraiya Kanafani. “It is important to recognise that there is a fine line between positive parenting and becoming parents who overanalyse their children and provide more emotional context than what is in the child’s emotional development to understand.”
