'Mutant jihadism' spreading across borders and online: EU's anti-terrorism coordinator

Five years after the fall of the so-called Islamic State caliphate in Iraq and Syria, the EU’s anti-terrorism coordinator sees a more diffuse threat, coming from many different directions and spreading online. This is what Bartjan Wegter calls “mutant jihadism”. With FRANCE 24’s Armen Georgian, he discusses Afghanistan, IS-KP (Islamic State – Khorasan Province), and how the French authorities are trying to make the upcoming Olympic games secure – efforts that Wegter praises as “impressive”. Wegter admits that more needs to be done to tackle what he calls “borderline content” online that might be inciting hatred and fuelling individuals’ radicalisation. He also draws attention to new forms of terrorist financing such as cryptocurrencies – something that the EU and national authorities should keep a close eye on, he says.



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