Following confirmation of a hostage-taking at the Bardo Museum in the Tunisian capital today, which killed 21 people including 17 tourists and a police officer, the president of the Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, Gianni Pittella, stressed the need for a united response to this threat:
“We urge the European Council and the international community to immediately make a stand against this latest barbaric terrorist attack from Daesh. Any hesitation should be put aside. Syria, Iraq, Libya and now Tunisia: the whole region faces a constant threat. Europe, along with the international community, must intervene before Daesh’s brutal and mindless strategy leads to the destabilisation of Tunisia, which is probably the most advanced example of democratisation in the region, and the destruction of the main cultural and human heritage sites.
“The sooner the whole of Europe realises that we are not just facing a marginal, regional problem, the more effective our common reaction can be against death, violence and destruction.”
Pier Antonio Panzeri MEP, S&D member of the European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee and the delegation for relations with Maghreb countries, added:
"The terrorists’ objective is clear: they attack Tunisia because its democratic aspirations represent the main obstacle to destabilising the whole area. Now Europe must be in the front line, not only to support the Tunisian institutions, but also to remind the international community of its responsibilities in the fight against terrorism".
