The free movement area of the European Union should initiate a “systematic addition of names of suspected jihadists” to governmental databases in the wake of the recent French train attack, officials said Saturday.
The so-called Schengen area needs to establish a passenger name record system to better detect dangerous individuals who enter or transit through Europe, said French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, speaking on behalf of a group of EU interior and transport ministers.
Passenger and luggage screening will be reinforced in train stations wherever necessary, Cazeneuve said in Paris.
An effort will also be made to look at the standardization of named tickets for long distance international trains, Cazeneuve added.
The ministers also called on the European Commission to reinforce gun control legislation within the EU and to improve information sharing, tracing methods and prevention of weapons trafficking via the Internet, Cazeneuve said.
“The use of the Internet to promote hate and violence must be fought against while respecting freedom of expression,” Cazeneuve said.
The French minister also called for better cooperation with Internet companies to detect and take down any content tied to terrorism.
Three Americans, a Briton and a French-American were credited with thwarting a terror massacre when they subdued a gunman on the high-speed Thylas train from Amsterdam to Paris this month.
The alleged gunman, identified as Moroccan national Ayoub El Khazzani, carried an AK-47 assault weapon with nine magazines of ammunition, a Luger pistol with extra ammo and a box cutter, authorities said.
Four people were injured in the attack, including two of the five men recognized for heroism in subduing the gunman.
