Media
Interview
24 March 2016
Europe must tackle the threat of terrorism on a European level, not on a national one
EFD Senior Policy Advisor Alexander Ritzmann is interviewed on Sky News to discuss Europe’s increasing security threat and what measures should be implemented to tackle the problem....
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Mention
24 March 2016
European Commission President Calls for ‘Security Union’
EFD Senior Policy Advisor Alexander Ritzmann on the global newsweekly Defense News on the terror attacks that struck Brussels on March 22....
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Interview
24 March 2016
Preventing radicalisation: Silent vigils alone won’t help
EFD Programme Director Ahmad Mansour is interviewed for an article in Kurier to discuss the necessity for Islamic associations to do more than issue press releases and conduct silent vigils for the victims after Islamist attacks. He argues that as long as they’re not making an effort to take action concerning an inner-Islamic debate, they are part of the problem, rather than the solution....
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Mention
24 March 2016
Terrorist attacks “underlines need” for better intelligence
FD Executive Director Roberta Bonazzi, EFD Senior Policy Advisor Alezander Ritzmann, EFD Senior Fellow Bakary Sambe and the European Foundation for Democracy are mentioned in EU Today after hosting the conference entitled: Defining the phenomenon of jihadist radicalization: Local and global drivers and catalysts, on March 22, minutes after the terror attacks struck the Belgian capital, leaving more than 30 people dead and many more wounded....
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Article
24 March 2016
The disapproval of jihad from the Islamic political world is too ambiguous
EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo comments on the denunciations deriving from the different political Islamic organisations in Europe of the terror attacks occurred on March 22 in Brussels, which have left more that 30 people killed....
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Interview
24 March 2016
What’s next in Brussels shutdown
EFD Executive Director Roberta Bonazzi is interviewed on CBSN to discuss radicalisation prevention in light of the major attacks at Zaventem airport and Maelbeek metro station in Brussels on 22 March. In the interview, Bonazzi highlights the difficulty protecting any city in an open society and soft targets in particular, like those with minimal security in which the Brussels bombers attacked earlier this week....
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Mention
23 March 2016
Belgium provides and hunts for suspects
EFD Senior Fellow Alexander Ritzmann is quoted in the well-known Norwegian newspaper Dagen on the Brussels terror attacks of March 22. The attack raises, among other things, questions about the country's efforts in combating terrorism and dealing with radicalization and extremism....
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Mention
23 March 2016
Belgium seeks answers
EFD Senior Policy Advisor Alexander Ritzmann is mentioned in the online version of the Norwegian newspaper Fædrelandsvennen on the recent terror attacks that struck Brussels on May 22. How could have Belgium been more prepared and prevent such atrocities?...
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Mention
23 March 2016
Belgium: A network such as this one should have been prevented
EFD Senior Policy Advisor Alexander Ritzmann and the European Foundation for Democracy are quoted in the online Norwegian newspaper Nettavisen on issues regarding security and preventive measures that should be undertaken in order to tackle the problem of terrorism in Europe today....
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Mention
23 March 2016
Brussels attacks in the British newspapers
EFD Senior Policy Advisor Alexander Ritzmann is mentioned by the Londra Gazete on the terror attacks that struck Brussles on March 22 and on the possibilities that the European and Belgian authorities now must undertake in order to prevent future attacks....
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Mention
23 March 2016
Brussels is tracking the terrorists
EFD Senior Fellow Alexander Ritzmann is quoted in the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza and expresses his opinion regarding the failure to implement adequate security measures in the Belgian capital at the moment of the attacks: "such a terrorist network should have been stopped. It is very worrying that this was not done"....
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Interview
23 March 2016
EFD Senior Policy Advisor Dr Seyrek is interviewed on the Brussels Attacks
EFD Senior Policy Advisor Dr. Murat Seyrek is interviewed on HaberTurk on the devastating attacks carried out in Brussels earlier this week, killing over 30 people. In the interview, Murat explains why Brussels was targeted and how authorities must respond to prevent similar attacks in the future....
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Interview
23 March 2016
Fighting violent extremism in Belgium
EFD Executive Director Roberta Bonazzi is interviewed by MSNBN to discuss the attacks in Brussels on 22 March and how Belgium should react to tackle violent extremism....
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Mention
23 March 2016
Giulio’s “mean” teacher
EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo talks about the murder of Giulio Regeni, the Italian student who was in Egypt to conduct a research paper on the current status of the Egyptian government. His body was found with marks that indicated torture had been used on him. This homicide spurred the uprising of a national debate in Italy, one that Colombo has been thoroughly following....
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Mention
23 March 2016
ISIS’s attack on Brussels is taking up a considerable amount of space today in the British press
Following the Brussels attacks, EFD Senior Policy Advisor Alexander Ritzmann is mentioned in the Turkish Avrupa magazine as saying that a terrorist network such as the one in Belgium should have been prevented by the intelligence and security services....
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Broadcast
23 March 2016
Markus Lanz
EFD Programme Director Ahmad Mansour is a guest on German TV show Markus Lanz. Together with fellow guests Dr. Edmund Stoiber (CSU), the former Minister-President of the state of Bavaria and journalists Florian Eder, Ulrich Tilgner and Nicolas Hénin, the panel discussed the 22nd March terrorist attacks in Brussels....
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Article
23 March 2016
The triggering factors of jihadist radicalisation in Belgium
EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo comments on the terrorist attacks that occurred in Brussels on 22nd March, analysing the political and social factors that lay behind them....
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Mention
22 March 2016
Belgium faces renewed questions on backing for security services
The Financial Times reports on yesterday's terror attacks in Brussels that killed over 30 people, while mentioning the European Foundation for Democracy and EFD Senior Policy Advisor Alexander Ritzmann. The article questions whether politicians and security services could have done more to prevent this attack and potential terror attacks in the future....
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Mention
22 March 2016
Brussels terror attacks: Jihadist hotbed in lock down as security forces launch massive operation
The Mirror reports on a new wave of raids being launched by police in Molenbeek and throughout Brussels, following the attacks that took place at Zaventem airport and Maelbeek metro station on 22 March, killing dozens. EFD Senior Policy Advisor Alexander Ritzmann is mentioned in the article for questioning how the network responsible for the attacks was not apprehended and prevented from doing so....
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Interview
22 March 2016
How the Brussels attacks affect the global fight against terror
Lorenzo Vidino, EFD Senior Policy Advisor and Director of the Program on Extremism at the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security at George Washington University, is interviewed by PBS on the Brussels terror attacks....
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Mention
22 March 2016
Security failures surface as Europe suffers another terror attack
EFD Executive Director Roberta Bonazzi is mentioned in Canadian news outlet The Toronto Star after conducting an interview with her, in response to the terror attacks on 22 March in Brussels that killed more than 32 people. "There was panic and a lot of confusion," she said in the interview. "Not even six months after Paris we had another major attack in Europe."...
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Mention
17 March 2016
Radically integrated
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports on an event hosted by member of the House of Representatives of Berlin, Burkard Dregger (CDU), who invited EFD Programme Director Ahmad Mansour to speak about integration. The article goes on to elaborate on Mansour’s background, his career and current efforts to establish an inner-Islamic debate on some of the contents of Islamic belief....
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Mention
15 March 2016
Al Qaeda’s Branch in Africa Makes a Lethal Comeback
An article in The New York Times, in which EFD Senior Fellow Bakary Sambe is mentioned, discuss the resurging Al Qaida branch in West Africa that has strengthened its reach and carried out deadly attacks in recent years, mostly on hotels where Westerners frequent....
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Interview
11 March 2016
Is true religion always extremist?
EFD Fellow Tehmina Kazi is mentioned in the online political magazine Prospect, where she speaks out for reformers such as herself and organizations such as the Inclusive Mosque initiative, which is a pro-feminist, pro-LGBT Muslim group formed in London....
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Mention
09 March 2016
Art will heal the wounds of war
During a conference entitled “Beyond Emergency Aid: Long-term Integration Strategies for Syrian Refugees” at the European Parliament, reported by the well-known Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet, the Maya Foundation presented “Project Lift” – an NGO based in Turkey that has been helping traumatised Syrian children through art, dance and music....
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Mention
09 March 2016
How a Turkish high school student changed the lives of Syrian children
EFD Executive Director Roberta Bonazzi moderated the event “Beyond Emergency Aid: Long-term Integration Strategies for Syrian Refugees” hosted by Ernest Maragall MEP at the European Parliament, stressing how important it is to support refugee children in order to provide them with a safe environment, immune to any kind of radicalisation....
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Mention
08 March 2016
Turkey is trying to take advantage of the refugee crises for personal gains
In light of the ongoing debates between the EU leaders and Turkey directed towards trying to solve the ongoing migrant crises, EFD Senior Policy Advisor Murat Seyrek is skeptical about the implementation of two points of the proposed deal....
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Mention
08 March 2016
Turkey sees itself as being in a position to force the EU’s hand
Deutsche Welle writes about the EU-Turkey summit on 7 January 2016. “I think the summit can be considered an unexpected diplomatic success for Turkey. The provision of sending one Syrian refugee to Europe for every refugee Turkey accepts from Greece was a new and unexpected proposition, which caused complications on the European side,” said EFD Senior Policy Advisor Dr Murat Seyrek....
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Mention
07 March 2016
AZ-panel discussion: Does Islam belong to Germany?
Abendzeitung München reports on a panel discussion in which EFD Programme Director Ahmad Mansour discussed various aspects of Islamic belief with regards to German society. The other guests were author Necla Kelek, imam Benjamin Idriz and talk show host Michel Friedman....
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Article
06 March 2016
Hezbollah: A “terrorist organization”? Not all Arabs agree
Following the decision of the Council for the Arab States of the Gulf to label Hezbollah (a Shiite Islamist military and political Lebanese group) as a terrorist organization, EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo tries to give a definition of the word “terrorism” and argues that the Council’s decision is primarily a political one....
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Mention
04 March 2016
Syrian refugee camps – fertile breeding ground for Islamic radicals
“Turkey has been dealing with this refugee crisis for several years but Europe is only just waking up to what is a humanitarian tragedy” said EFD Executive Director Roberta Bonazzi while moderating the conference “Beyond Emergency Aid”, held at the European Parliament in Brussels....
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Article
03 March 2016
Regeni was exposed to danger by activist professors
Following her article on the murder of the Italian researcher Giulio Regeni, EFD Senior Fellow Valentina Colombo publishes another opinion piece on the issue....
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Mention
01 March 2016
#Turkey: Syrian refugee crisis can help ‘re-energize’ relations between Turkey and EU
EU Reporter writes about a recent event organised by the European Foundation for Democracy on the “Turkey-EU Deal on Refugees – Domestic and Foreign Policy Implications”. With regards to tackling the current impasse on EU/Turkey relations, EFD senior policy advisor Dr Demir Murat Seyrek argued that opening accession chapters, particularly those on the rule of law and justice, could be a useful step forward for both parties....
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Mention
01 March 2016
Syrian refugee crisis can help ‘re-energise’ relations between Turkey and EU
The Brussels Times reports on the recent closed-door policy briefing organised by the European Foundation for Democracy on 29 February 2016. The event, entitled “Turkey-EU Deal on Refugees - Domestic and Foreign Policy Implications”, offered insights into the possibility of positive benefits for EU/Turkey relations with regards to cooperation in the handling of the refugee crisis....
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Mention
01 March 2016
What gender perceptions do Muslim men maintain?
Neue Zürcher Zeitung reports on why men from patriarchal structures are commonly considered a threat to society and points out some projects in the German capital, Berlin, that are working on this issue. One of the projects presented is “HEROES”, in which EFD Programme Director Ahmad Mansour works as a counselor....
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Mention
29 February 2016
Syrian refugee crisis can help ‘re-energise’ relations between Turkey and EU
EU today writes about the recently hosted closed-door policy briefing organised by the European Foundation for Democracy on 29 February 2016. The briefing, entitled “Turkey-EU Deal on Refugees – Domestic and Foreign Policy Implications”, considered to what extent cooperation on the refugee situation has the potential to help reinvigorate EU-Turkey relations....
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