EU promises 1 billion euros to fight against ISIS
Europe, News February 7, 2015 3 Comments on EU promises 1 billion euros to fight against ISISThe European Union has promised one billion euros (USD 1.14 billion) in funding to deal with the threat of ISIS terrorist group in conflict-stricken Syria and Iraq over the next two years.
“This package will strengthen our actions to help restore peace and security in a region that is so close to us and that has been devastated by terrorism and violence for too long,” EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said in a statement on Friday.
“We are now better equipped to do more together – with our Member States, regional partners and the international community – in political and diplomatic terms as well as through aid and on security. We can now better tackle the root causes of instability and violence,” she added.
She pointed to the ruthless killing of the Jordanian pilot, Moaz al-Kassasbeh, at the hands of the ISIS last Tuesday and said his murder once again proved that “terrorism has no boundaries and that Muslims are the first victims of” the terrorist group.
A video released last Tuesday showed 26-year-old Kassasbeh dressed in an orange jumpsuit and surrounded by flames of fire inside a metal cage.
The pilot had been captured last December by ISIS militants when his plane went down in northern Syria during a mission against the terrorist group.
Jordanian King Abdullah II pledged to step up the fight against the ISIS and other militant groups.
The terrorist acts by the ISIS in France and Belgium in recent weeks raised fear in the 28-nation bloc about the threat posed by the militants.
“We face common challenges and common threats. We share an interest with our friends and partners in the region to stand up to them in the most effective way, and this is what we are doing today,” Mogherini said.
The ISIS terrorist groups, with members from several Western countries, control swathes of land in Syria and Iraq, and have been carrying out horrific acts of violence such as public decapitations and crucifixions against all communities such as Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, and Christians.
European countries have repeatedly expressed concern over the ISIS’s influence across the continent. Authorities fear that the European militants will use their combat skills against their countries upon returning home.
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