Italy pushes closer European security cooperation after Brussels attack

BERLIN — Tuesday’s deadly terrorist attacks in Brussels could help pull the fraying European Union closer together. At least that's the idea behind an Italian proposal for closer European security cooperation.

Following the attacks at the Brussels Airport and a metro station that killed at least 31 people and injured 270, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi called for Europe to work toward a common strategy for security and defense.

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“Europe has been arguing about a common defense policy since 1954,” Renzi said, speaking in Rome, referring to the creation of the seven-nation Western European Union, a predecessor to the modern 28-nation EU.

“Now is the time to finally create a European security program without boundaries,” he concluded. “Europe must go all the way this time.”

Europe has adopted greater cooperation on economic matters, such as trade, labor and currency, and the migrant crisis but not on national security.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Italian President Sergio Mattarella and other key Italian leaders echoed Renzi’s remarks.

Renzi, 41, became prime minister two years ago and since then has been a vocal pro-EU voice, calling for more uniform tax policies, common migration laws, and more flexible EU-wide budget rules.

His latest remarks come as the future of the bloc is being cast in doubt. Last year, Greece was nearly pushed out of the EU after defaulting on its debt, and an undulating flow of refugees from war-torn Syria and other parts of the Middle East and Africa have exposed stark differences in the openness of EU member states to take in migrants. Later this year, Great Britain will hold a national referendum to determine whether it will leave the EU all together.

In the past, some EU politicians, including European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, called for the creation of an EU-wide army. It was an initiative that never went anywhere.

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Renzi said it would be a mistake if the Brussels attacks, like those last year in Paris, create a wedge between countries by spurring some to throw up barriers and turn inward.

“Those who today are shouting ‘let us shut the borders’ do not understand that our enemies are often inside our cities,” he said.

As things stand now, collaboration between national security agencies in Europe can be slow, and oftentimes the information shared is outdated or incomplete, according to Massimo Blanco of Italy’s National Association of Public and Private Security Experts.

Making it easier and faster for national agencies to collaborate would be a positive step, but a level of collaboration like the one Renzi described seems unlikely, especially in the current climate, Blanco said.

“First of all, when there’s a crisis, it’s the wrong time to make a big change,” Blanco said. “But even if Europe waited before pursuing such an agenda, national agencies will never willingly give up their autonomy. Security and defense may be the last area to integrate in Europe.”

Germano Dottori, an international security expert with Rome’s LUISS University, agreed: “National security agencies are still more likely to compete against each other than to collaborate,” he said.

“If Europe has a homogenous population it might be different,” Dottori went on. “But as it is, you’ll never get law enforcement in Sicily to easily work with their counterparts in, say, Finland. There’s too much suspicion. Too much unfamiliarity.”

Despite all the reservations about integration, some important progress could still emerge from the tragedy in Brussels, said Gian Franco Gallo, a political affairs analyst with ABS Securities in Milan.

“All security agencies want to keep their citizens safe,” Gallo said. “I wouldn’t expect the creation of a powerful European security agency as Matteo Renzi seems to suggest, but don’t be surprised to see more open lines of communication. Don’t be surprised to see a little more willingness to share observations. That would be a start.”