500 young Europeans have taken arms against the regime

“The EU has issued a warning about increasing numbers of young people travelling to fight in Syria,” announces El Mundo, which reports on recent declarations by the European counter-terrorism co-ordinator, an organisation which answers to the European Council.

In the absence of common statistics for all of the EU, the warning is based on data from King’s College London’s International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR), which estimates that between 7 and 11 per cent of the foreign fighters who have joined groups combating the Bashar al-Assad regime are from the European Union —

This figure represents close to 500 young people, who have been recruited by the jihadi cells that are present in several European countries, particularly in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

“Recruitment has intensified over recent months,” and the alert level in The Netherlands has been raised in response to fears of a possible terrorist attack, continues El Mundo. The newspaper further reports that the issue will be on the agenda for discussion at the EU interior ministers’ meeting, scheduled for May 8, which is expected to adopt measures to help member states counter this growing threat.