{"id":450756,"date":"2026-04-17T17:31:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T15:31:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/04\/17\/il-medio-oriente-preoccupa-lue-occhi-aperti-sulla-minaccia-del-terrorismo\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T18:07:50","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T16:07:50","slug":"the-middle-east-is-a-cause-for-concern-for-the-eu-keep-a-close-eye-on-the-threat-of-terrorism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/04\/17\/the-middle-east-is-a-cause-for-concern-for-the-eu-keep-a-close-eye-on-the-threat-of-terrorism\/","title":{"rendered":"The Middle East is a cause for concern for the EU: “Keep a close eye on the threat of terrorism”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels \u2013 With the Middle East in turmoil and attention focused on the conflicts in Lebanon and Iran, there is a risk of letting our guard down regarding the reorganisation of Daesh. “Given what is happening, we must keep a close eye on the terrorist threat<\/strong>“, argues a senior European official, referring to the challenges lurking within a situation described as “fluid” but considered too chaotic. Foreign ministers will meet in Luxembourg next week (Tuesday, 21 April) to discuss, among other things, the Middle East and terrorist risks. <\/p>\n

The Middle East includes Hezbollah, an organisation designated as a terrorist group by the EU<\/a>, which operates in Lebanon, and Iran, considered one of the main financiers of terrorism. \u201cBut the Middle East is also Syria<\/strong>,\u201d argues the same senior European official, wishing to point out that focusing on certain areas at this moment is leaving others exposed. Fears linked to regime change, following the fall of Bashar al-Assad, are therefore resurfacing, and the foreign ministers of the 27 Member States will begin a new discussion on how to manage the situation. <\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2024\/12\/18\/von-der-leyen-syrias-future-fraught-with-risks-more-contact-with-hts\/ <\/p>\n

The debate on the Middle East will be enriched by the presence of the Lebanese Prime Minister, Nawaf Salam<\/strong>, with whom an informal discussion will take place. The topic will be  the truce with Israel<\/a>, but the Lebanese Prime Minister is expected to provide an update on the situation for assessment purposes<\/span>. The EU, however, remains ready to support the country. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, with regard to Tel Aviv, \u201cmany ministers\u2014almost all of them\u2014are in favour of moving forward\u201d on sanctions against extremist Israeli settlers<\/strong>, which have so far been blocked by Hungary, \u201cand if an opportunity were to arise, I expect they would be keen to seize it<\/strong>,\u201d the senior official explains. Furthermore, regarding the possible suspension of the Association Agreement, \u201cthe EU has been quite clear in its statement against the death penalty\u201d as well as \u201con settlement activity in the West Bank,\u201d and \u201cnaturally the EU\u2019s long-standing position on the situation in Gaza remains very clear,\u201d the EU source adds. So, “the measures are on the table. But we will have to see where the discussion goes on Tuesday,” he notes. <\/p>\n

The first item on the agenda, however, is Ukraine. The EU\u2019s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, \u201cintends to step up pressure on Russia in every respect<\/strong>,\u201d according to well-informed sources in Brussels. This commitment involves further tightening restrictions on the fleet of ghost ships and considering new measures to prevent the Kremlin from profiting from the war in Iran. Thus, the twentieth package of sanctions is on the table, on which the vote of former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n weighed heavily<\/a>. \u201cThe EU High Representative, Kaja Kallas<\/strong>, and many ministers would have preferred it to have been approved many weeks ago,\u201d the EU source states. \u201cIf there is an opportunity, and I hope there is, I am sure she and the ministers will be ready to seize it as quickly as possible,\u201d he adds. For Ukraine, alongside the three pillars of the European agenda for Kyiv\u2014military support, civilian support, and industrial cooperation\u2014Kallas intends to propose a fourth, entirely new pillar on defence system reforms. This pillar includes EU support for landmine clearance, next-generation anti-drone defence, and the reintegration of veterans<\/a> into the labour market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The issue at the top of the foreign ministers\u2019 agenda. A meeting with the Lebanese Prime Minister is scheduled, and there may be an opportunity to discuss sanctions against violent Israeli settlers. Kallas is ready to offer further aid to Ukraine<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":494,"featured_media":450734,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25707],"tags":[30025,27072,27337,27073,33394],"class_list":["post-450756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-politics","tag-daesh-en","tag-council-ue-en","tag-middle-east-en","tag-terrorism-en","tag-ue"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/494"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=450756"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450756\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":450757,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450756\/revisions\/450757"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/450734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=450756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=450756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=450756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}