Mate Urges Better Security for Key Infrastructure

London, 16 August

Interior Minister Dragutin Mate called for better security for key infrastructure after meeting with several of his EU counterparts in London on Wednesday.

At the meeting that discussed the recent discovery of a plot in the UK to blow up trans-Atlantic flights, Mate underscored the need to establish uniform security standards at EU airports.
"We have to sit down and devise a plan to provide security for key infrastructure. We are already working on this, but we need to invest more energy," Mate told after the meeting.
"All terrorist attacks so far have been aimed at infrastructure. In the future, we can expect more attempts to attack key infrastructure," Mate explained.
According to him, key infrastructure includes transport means, such as railways, buses and planes, as well as energy infrastructure.
He said the EU needs to introduce uniform airport security standards that would do away with the shortfalls established by the European Commission in its checks.
In regards to security at the Ljubljana International Airport at Brnik, Mate said that while some irregularities were found by the European Commission during its last check of the airport, everything has been fixed since then.
Moreover, Mate pointed to the importance of cooperating with countries outside of the EU in gaining information on potential terrorists and terror plots.
In this respect, he pointed out the Western Balkans region, where there is a risk "that people may attempt to transport certain materials that the terrorists may use".
The meeting in London was organised by the Finnish EU presidency. Finnish Interior Minister Kari Rajamaki invited his counterparts from Germany, Portugal, Slovenia, France and the UK to the meeting. European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security Franco Frattini also took part.

Mate Urges Better Security for Key Infrastructure

More articles from this issue:

Archive