Official: War in Iran heightening security concerns across EU

The war in Iran is heightening security concerns across the European Union, particularly over potential terrorist infiltration, vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure and the safety of Jewish communities, according to EU officials.

Magnus Brunner, the EU Home Affairs Commissioner, told all 27 national interior ministers that governments should prepare for multiple risk scenarios as the conflict in the Middle East evolves, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

“While we all hope for a swift resolution to the conflict in the Middle East, we must be prepared for all possible scenarios,” he wrote in a March 25 letter.

Brunner urged member states to prioritise the protection of “soft targets” such as energy and financial infrastructure, and called on countries that have yet to implement an EU law on safeguarding critical sectors to accelerate their efforts. He also cautioned that delays in rolling out the EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES), designed to record travellers’ biometric data, could create “security gaps” if not fully operational on time.

The European Commission will allocate €5 million to support the protection of Jewish sites that could be targeted by terrorist attacks, with plans to “increasing” this funding under consideration, Brunner said.

While authorities have observed “no increased migratory flows to the EU” linked to the Iran war, Brunner encouraged governments to step up preparations for the bloc’s new migration pact ahead of the June deadline, noting that “the level of readiness varies across the EU.”

By Aghakazim Guliyev