Brussels warns of extremism

On Friday, EU interior ministers gathered in Brussels to discuss the problem of young Europeans going to fight in Syria and Iraq.

"It has not stopped, the flow is still growing steadily," EU counter-terrorism Coordinator Gilles de Kerchove said, calling for a "more ambitious" response to the problem.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve warned that the threat of an attack by Islamist militants in Europe was "real" and EU countries must all remain mobilized to counter it.

According to Cazeneuve, the number of people involved in groups such as the "Islamic State" (IS) had jumped by 89 percent in France since the beginning of the year.

The European Commission has pushed for the creation of a new system to share airline passenger data, but the measure is expected to meet resistance in the European Parliament because of privacy regulations.

'Prevent their return'

The EU estimates that some 3,000 European foreign fighters have been involved in the crises in Syria and Iraq.

"Together, we have to - and we will - prevent these people leaving to export terror," German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere (pictured) said at the meeting. "And we want to especially prevent their return as fighters to carry out attacks in Europe."

On Friday, the first German man to be tried for fighting with the Islamic state in Syria was sentenced to 45 months in jail after he was found guilty of membership of a foreign terrorist organization.

Kreshnik B, aged 20, traveled to Syria via Istanbul in July 2013 to join the group. He was then said to have received military training from IS.

ra/mkg (dpa, AFP)