The murder of Charlie Hebdo journalists. The terrorist attack on individuals at the Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli. The utterly grotesque torching of a Jordanian pilot presented as entertainment on the internet. These are all truly shocking and horrifying events that should give us pause for thought.

There’s no doubting that the world is capable of being a very dangerous place. Nothing new in that, some would counter. Sure, but the momentum gathered by violent radicalism in Africa and areas around the Mediterranean basin has made everybody sit up and take notice. More than that, it has made people edgy.

This is very understandable. The image of innocent civilians being beheaded is scary, as was the footage seen by everyone of the senseless killings that took place in Paris, while the Corinthia attack – though not aimed at the hotel group nor Malta – had a particularly bitter local taste to it.

But it is of vital importance, even when faced with horrifying images that the internet today constantly places into our minds, to retain a sense of balance and perspective.

When a little-known Italian channel reported that missiles were being aimed by Libya in Italy’s direction – it is, of course, lost on nobody which island lies in between – we chose to dismiss this sensationalism with the contempt it deserved. We also resisted (with great ease, it should be added) any temptation to publish an image of the Jordanian pilot engulfed in flames.

The reasons are straightforward: while the former was clearly not credible, the latter was distasteful to an extreme and serves the purpose of the people who committed this dastardly act.

However, that does not mean we have failed to focus on the issue. Quite the contrary. We are as aware as anyone that the army is on fuller alert, and we put a series of questions to the Prime Minister in this regard.

Joseph Muscat has handled this issue with great maturity and responsibility to date. He told Times of Malta that while terrorist patterns were shifting towards soft targets, the government was not aware of any Islamist threat to Malta. However, he rightly raised concerns about Libya, our neighbour, during his meeting with Angela Merkel last week.

To date the EU’s approach to increased security concerns remains a little vague. Ms Merkel said that Germany would be prepared to support a UN peacekeeping mission in Libya, but the Chancellor failed to elaborate as she remains focused on the Ukraine crisis.

The EU is soon expected to discuss the suitability of the Schengen arrangements – which enable EU citizens to travel through much of the continent without any documents – amid a heightened state of security.

Some tweaking – such as requiring passports to be shown – seems inevitable and is eminently sensible, but we should bear in mind that the terrorism we have witnessed in Europe recently has been largely home-grown.

Meanwhile, there are signs that the murder of the Jordanian pilot are causing sands to shift too. While his home country was divided about air strikes on IS before he was killed, they are much more united behind the cause now. “This is now our war,” several senior figures have said, while King Abdullah has pledged “relentless” attacks.

There are usually many more losers than winners in these conflicts, and we can only act as interested spectators. Throughout, vigilance remains our best policy; however, hysteria can only harm the country.