EU ministers expected to beef up anti-terror measures

Top officials to discuss passport control, crackdown on illegal arms, and more effective intelligence-sharing

BRUSSELS (AP) — Top European Union law-enforcement officials were expected to agree Thursday on quick fixes to make it tougher for terrorism suspects to travel abroad or return home unimpeded.

EU interior ministers, meeting in Brussels, were to be asked to decide that the passports of everyone leaving or entering the 26-nation Schengen area should be checked against databases to ensure they are not stolen, forged or void.

The ministers were also expected to agree that individual travelers should be given special scrutiny if they meet high-risk criteria that are still to be formulated. Bloc officials said the criteria probably will not involve ethnic origin or related factors, such as which passengers preorder kosher or halal meals, but will include the destination people are flying to or their complete itinerary.

The EU made fighting terrorism a top priority after the January 7-9 attacks in Paris that claimed 17 victims. As Thursday’s meeting of interior ministers began, the chairman, Rihards Kozlovskis of Latvia, said, “terrorism still remains one of the biggest threats for our citizens.”

Kozlovskis said the ministers would also discuss how to combat the use of the Internet to spread Islamic extremism or other radical doctrines, curtail the illicit trafficking of firearms and better share terrorism-related information among EU law-enforcement agencies.

On Friday, EU justice ministers will discuss how to prevent people from being radicalized while in prison.

The passport controls, if imposed, will require all airports, seaports and land entry points in the Schengen zone to be equipped with the proper scanners. At present, EU officials say, passports in some places are looked at by immigration officials but not verified electronically.

Last year, an estimated 564 million travelers entered or left the Schengen zone, to which 22 of the 28 EU member nations belong.

EU leaders on February 12 ordered a wide array of measures to “protect all from violence based on ethnic or religious motivations and racism.”

Some measures already envisaged by the EU heads of state and government are controversial. At their February summit, the leaders called for an EU-wide exchange of airline passenger information. But some members of the European Parliament have balked, citing privacy and human rights concerns.

Making permanent changes in the Schengen Borders Code would also require amending the agreement that created the multinational zone inside which people are free to move about without customs or border checks. Some EU member countries have signaled their reluctance or objection to doing that.