The justice ministers of the Member States of the European Union attended a conference entitled “Criminal justice response to radicalisation” in Brussels on Monday.
Hungarian Justice Minister László Trócsányi stressed upon informing the Hungarian News Agency MTI by telephone that the radicalisation of convicts is a disconcerting phenomenon in the penal enforcement institutions of countries in Europe. This phenomenon is primarily emerging in Western-European countries where migrants settled down, in many cases, decades ago. The Minister mentioned France, Belgium and Sweden as examples.
Mr Trócsányi said: at the conference the attending ministers reviewed what practical measures are available for taking action against radicalisation. These include, for instance, the placement of convicts; namely, what risk factors should be assessed when a decision is made as to who should be placed where. Another range of topics included education, prevention and pastoral care, or in other words, the role of churches, including inter-church dialogue, as this, too, may play a part in the reduction of radicalisation.
The conference further covered the issue of foreign fighters who fight under the auspices of the Islamic State. In this context, the attendees also looked into online crime, as part of which people are recruited for the Islamic State. The Ministers of the 28 Member States reviewed how this could be prevented with the means of the law.
Hungary is concerned inasmuch as it is a transit country and a member of the Schengen zone. The exchange of information between the competent agencies is therefore very important in the interest of preventing radicalisation and promoting de-radicalisation, Mr Trócsányi stressed.