British Prime Minister David Cameron said on 26 November that stopping terrorist attacks such as the ones in Paris would require a pan-European effort, with better cooperation and border protection by EU member states. Camerons comments came during his official visit to Vienna, where he met with Austrias Chancellor Werner Faymann to discuss issues of EU reform, the fight against Islamic State (Isis) and the refugee crisis.
We both had citizens caught up in the sickening attacks that took place in Paris, and this underlines the need for cooperation and, frankly, the threat that we all face in Europe, Cameron said. It requires a pan-European effort. We need stronger external EU borders to protect our security, with more effective screening and greater sharing of data between member states.
The prime minister told the British House of Commons on Thursday that it was time to join air strikes against Islamic State in Syria, saying that Britain could not sub-contract its security to other countries.
As members of the global coalition against ISIL (Islamic State), both the UK and Austria are committed to defeating these terrorists in Iraq and Syria, he said in Vienna. And as I said in Parliament this morning, this must be part of a comprehensive strategy to bring the civil war in Syria to an end. And of course, the international talks, which Austria has hosted here in Vienna, are an absolutely vital part of that.
Cameron also touched on the issue of migrants, after hundreds of thousands of people – mostly Syrians fleeing civil war – trekked across the Balkans in an effort to reach western Europe.
We agree we need to pursue a comprehensive approach that tackles the problem at source and stops migrants from making the perilous journey to Europe, Cameron said. And we must do more to work with Turkey – Europes neighbour and Syrias neighbour – who are hosting more Syrian refugees than any other country. This will be the focus of the EU summit in Brussels on Sunday, and Im sure we will discuss there the concrete steps that we can take to stem the number of migrants coming to Europe, .
