MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The statement comes as on Thursday a van rammed into a crowd in Spain's city of Barcelona, followed by a similar attack in another Catalan town, Cambrils. The two attacks left 14 people dead and about 130 injured. The police have detained four people in connection with the attacks so far. None of them had a history of terrorism-linked activities.
France boosts border control with Spain amid search for #Barcelona van attacker https://t.co/fErzGaVRqk #BarcelonaAttack pic.twitter.com/tNW8MQ5FZJ
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) August 18, 2017
"Increase of security measures now is useless. Terrorists are now entering European territory because of the crazy 'welcome' policy that has opened our borders to these criminals," Ferrari said.
Ferrari noted he believed the European Union had to close borders to improve security.
President of the Belgian right-wing People’s Party (PP) Mischael Modrikamen told Sputnik that the European Union and the European Commission in particular had failed in the last three years to establish a working migration policy, which would have helped boost the security in Europe.
"The European Union, and singularly the European Commission has not been able – over 3 years — to define and apply a real policy toward these migrants, coming from as far as Pakistan, Bangladesh or Nigeria. They should not receive quasi-automatically the right of abode in Europe, as is the case now," Modrikamen said.
The Belgian politician stated that the security could be improved if all "troublemakers" were expelled from the European Union, even if they had a double citizenship, including one of a European country.
Polish Deputy DM blasts EU's migration policy in the wake of #Catalonia attacks https://t.co/qkG87wUmG0 #BarcelonaAttack #CambrilsAttack pic.twitter.com/umArKN1zEv
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) August 18, 2017
Modrikamen added that police should be given more resources to boost their surveillance capabilities. The PP leader stressed that the European countries should improve monitoring of radicalized youth.
Modrikamen said that it was difficult to comment on reports that US CIA had warned the Spanish police months in advance about a possible attack.
"The police everywhere are frantically busy with dismantling and stopping Islamic terrorist plots. Many are discovered in time," the Belgian politician said, adding that such an attack as the one in Barcelona was easy to organize and therefore very hard to foil.
The Lega Nord member also said that the attacks planned and carried out by individual cells were "virtually impossible to predict." While the police across the world exchange information, they do not always follow it up with an investigation, Ferrari added.
The European Union has faced a large influx of migrants and refugees, with Italy and Greece bearing the brunt of the inflow, as they serve as entry points for a large percentage of the arrivals.
