The risk of ‘terrorism fatigue’ in Europe

This month, the EU commemorated the 20th anniversary of terrorist attacks on commuter trains in Madrid, Spain. More than 190 people were killed and around 2,000 injured in the bombings, making it the second most deadly act of terrorism in Europe after the explosion of a Boeing 747 over Lockerbie in 1988.

As a show of unity and resilience against violent extremism, the EU established March 11 as the European Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Terrorism.

The 2004 Madrid train bombings revealed that Europe was not immune to jihadist terrorism. According to the investigation, the assault was orchestrated by a group of homegrown Muslim extremists enraged by the Spanish government’s endorsement of the Iraq war.

The perpetrators placed bags with explosives into four commuter trains and detonated them during the peak of rush hour on the morning of March 11.

Following the collapse of the ISIS caliphate in 2019 and a significant decrease in attacks, public concerns shifted to other pressing issues like Covid-19. As such, some analysts started speaking about so-called “terrorism fatigue” but time has shown that those sentiments were misleading.

Another war, another spike in terrorist activities. Earlier in March, Italian police arrested three people who were planning terror attacks. The suspects established a cell linked to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a network of military groups associated with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement.

In December, Hamas members were apprehended in Denmark, Germany and Holland amid suspicions of a planned attack on Jewish targets in Europe.

Meanwhile, the Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to the UN, Bojan Vujic, has admitted recently that the influx of foreign jihadists