Unlike Russia the EU has no single list of terrorist organizations. They use a three-tier system, which includes UN lists, lists adopted at the Union level, and lists of EU member states instead. The composition of organizations recognized by the European Union as terrorist is constantly changing. Nevertheless, in the annual reports of the Europol on the terrorist situation and trends, it is customary to divide terrorist organizations into five groups depending on their motivation. Islamist terrorism in the EU is called ‘jihadist’. It is based on a tendentious understanding of some surahs of the Quran. The ideologists of Islamic fundamentalism and the leaders of terrorist organizations skillfully manipulate the contradictions of Muslim culture and modern secular culture of European states, thereby igniting mutual discontent and pushing the parties to violence. Organizations which belong to the traditional European terrorism associated with the separatist movements of Northern Ireland and the Basque Country are united in one group with the national separatist organizations operating in other regions of the world – in the Middle East and South Asia. There are practically no large left-wing terrorist groups in Europe at present. According to Europol, there are some Latin American and Middle Eastern groups that refer to this type as well as one from the Philippines. In addition to these groups of terrorist organizations, Europol highlights the rightwing terrorism and the so-called single-issue terrorism. These groups currently do not include any terrorist organizations.
terrorism; European Union; Europol; jihadism; nationalism; separatism; anarchism.