The terrorist attacks that took place in Brussels last Tuesday have shocked the continent but not surprised it. With the tragic events of last November in Paris still fresh in the collective memory of Europeans, the attacks in Brussels somehow felt different, despite the fact that fewer people were hurt or lost their lives.

This feeling is not a coincidence. The attack on Brussels was by design intended to strike at the very heart of the European project. Militants targeted the check-in desks at Zaventem airport and the Maelbeek Metro station, the former a mere few metres away from the airport’s entrance and the latter situated within a stone’s throw of some of the main EU buildings in the European district. Both targets are symbols of Europe’s open borders, liberal demo­cratic values and multiculturalism.

However, that is all now coming under question for a second time in less than six months. France had reacted strongly to the attacks on Paris by increasing its police presence on the capi­tal city’s streets. Its parliament recently extended a state of emergency (which grants police the ability to conduct raids without a warrant, for example) until May. While no further terror attacks have taken place in France since then, it has come at the cost, rather expectedly, of personal liberties.

Europe is in a difficult position. It faces serious issues on a number of fronts. On the economic and financial front, unemployment remains high, economic growth is rather stagnant, southern European countries have a lot of sovereign debt (with Greece being a case in point) while the monetary stimulus initiated by the European Central Bank has yet to yield the desired results.

The European Commission has found itself struggling to find suitable compromises with national governments, given the various national interests at play. These economic issues, coupled with the migrant crisis, have reinforced the rise of right-wing parties in major European nations such as the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland.

On the other hand, the failure of some European governments and EU authorities in Brussels to give security and intelligence issues the same attention as economic ones has helped to lead to these tragedies on the continent – reinforcing the right’s narrative and cementing their position in domestic and European politics.

The EU’s leaders have yet to rise to the occasion as their fathers had during the Cold War

The road ahead will not be easy. EU member states have chosen to share sovereignty over economic and trade considerations but foreign poli­cy and security remain very much in the hands of national governments. This includes such sensitive issues as intelligence gathering on radical Islamists in Europe, policing and special forces operations against high-value targets.

Herein lies the problem. While Europe’s internal borders are open for the free movement of trade and people, it also allows individuals with malevolent intent to avoid a consistent stream of surveillance, as once they leave a country, the intelligence built up against them will not necessarily be shared with others.

This has left gaping holes in Europe’s internal security, which allows radical militants to traverse countries with a lower chance of detection than should be acceptable in the 21st century.

ISIS has proven itself capable of both inspiring and carrying out attacks in countries around the globe. The Charlie Hebdo Paris attacks in January 2015 were followed by others in Yemen, Tunisia, Turkey, Paris again, California and now Brussels – all in the span of 15 months.

This is far from being only Europe’s problem. However, Europe’s proximity to conflict zones such as Syria and Libya does not work in its favour.

Europe’s ideal of the free movement of people was always an ambitious, if not idealistic proposition. With time, it has forgotten that it has only managed to reach a point where such an idea was possible due to its security being guaranteed during the Cold War, and a lack of serious geopolitical threats on the continent after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The threats to the EU’s cohesiveness and stability are many in number but its leaders have yet to rise to the occasion as their fathers had during the Cold War and their grandfathers before that during World War II. Radical extremists do not pose an existential threat to Europe, unlike the wars fought in the 20th century, despite what many may wish to believe. But it is about time that we stop putting our collective heads in the sand.

While European involvement in the war against ISIS should continue, it should also establish intelligence sharing agreements within an EU or NATO context, similar to the Five Eyes agreement.

The Schengen Area is not necessarily dead – but it cannot exist in its current form while the West is at war with extremism. Without security, economies cannot thrive, and people will turn to radical right-wing parties for answers.

It is high time that European governments realise that the war on ISIS will not just be fought over the skies of Syria but also on the streets of Europe – whether we like it or not.

Matthew Bugeja is a geopolitical consultant whose book Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan: Nationbuilding and combating Al-Qaeda’s ideology, was published in 2014.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.