ΚΑΤΩ ΑΠΟ ΤΗΝ «ΟΜΠΡΕΛΑ» ΤΗΣ EUROPOL
- 27 Apr 2023
- international
The training exercise called Firestorm, coordinated by Europol with nine European states, is reported in the French newspaper Le Figaro, noting that the exercise in question recalls a major threat that, after the wave of Islamist attacks in the 2010s, continues to preoccupy Europe.
u“These joint exercises are necessary to increase the preparation of special intervention units in cross-border operations. Their preparation translates directly into a safer Europe," Europol's Deputy Executive Director in charge of operations, French general Jean-Philippe Lecouf, told the French newspaper.
The publication emphasizes the realization of the exercise in real conditions, since, as stated, the intervention and surveillance units did not know the scenario of the exercise in advance and had to react to the threat in real time.
It is recalled that in 2018 Europol had coordinated another European exercise, focused on scenarios such as air counter-terrorism in Spain, maritime counter-terrorism in the Baltic, dealing with bus piracy in Greece, intervention in a subway in Poland, in a building in Slovakia, etc.
Belgium: Eight people were arrested on suspicion of a terrorist attack
It is noted that the federal police arrested eight people on Monday, following investigations in Flanders and Brussels, in the context of a terrorism case, according to the Belgian press.
According to a press release from the federal prosecutor's office, five people were deprived of their liberty and taken in for questioning. Two of those arrested are suspected of preparing a terrorist attack on Belgian soil.
Three other people, also suspected of preparing a terrorist attack, were deprived of their liberty during investigations in Zavedem, Molenbeek Saint-Jean and Skarbeek.
"There is a connection between the two cases, but further investigation will reveal the extent to which the two cases were interconnected," the statement said. In addition, the target is not known and for now "nothing can be shared about the results of these investigations," the prosecutor's office says.
