Tirsdag aflagde NATO-general Philip Breedlove rapport om udviklingen i Europa ved et pressemøde i den amerikanske kongres. Han talte blandt andet om truslen fra et stadig mere aggressivt Rusland, men også om borgerkrigen i Syrien, og sikkerhedspolitiske problemer relateret til flygtningestrømmene.
Generalen pointerede, at op imot 9.000 jihadister var rejst fra Europa til Syrien, og at 1.500 var vendt hjem igen. Folk der kunne tænkes at give Europa problemer på den ene eller anden måde. Endnu mere foruroligende, så påpegede han også, at Islamisk Stat bevidst udnyttede muligheden for at komme ind i Europa i ly af flygtningestrømmene. Islamisk Stat ‘spreder sig som kræft’, og udgør en sikkerhedspolitisk trussel.
Længere oprids på Defense.gov.
“Last time I was here, I explained the security situation in Europe was rapidly evolving and becoming complex. Even in just these past four months, the situation has grown more serious and more complicated.
As I stated in each of my congressional hearings, Europe continues to face security challenges from two directions. First to the east, Europe faces a resurgent, aggressive Russia. Russia has chosen to be an adversary and poses a long-term, existential threat to the U.S. and to our
European allies and partners. …To the south, Europe faces the daunting challenge of mass migration spurred by state instability and state collapse, and migration that masked the movements of criminals, terrorists and foreign fighters. Within this mix, ISIL or Daesh is spreading like a cancer, taking advantage of paths of least resistance, threatening European nations and our own with terrorist attacks.
Its brutality is driving millions to flee from Syria and Iraq creating an almost unprecedented humanitarian challenge. Russia’s entry into the fight in Syria has complicated the problem, changing the dynamic in the air and on the ground. Despite public pronouncements to the contrary, today Russia has done little to counter Daesh, but a great deal to bolster the Assad regime and its allies. …”