FBI and Europol strengthen joint fight against foreign terrorist fighters

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Europol, the European law enforcement agency, have signed in Washington a mutual agreement that will considerably intensify the common fight against foreign terrorist fighters. The agreement, signed by FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and Europol’s Deputy Director of Operations Wil van Gemert, enables the FBI to join Europol’s Focal Point Travellers.

Focal Point (FP) Travellers is a specialist team of analysts and experts that coordinates EU Member States’ investigations into, and data analysis on, foreign terrorist fighters. In response to the concerted efforts of EU Member States, with the assistance of Europol the amount of data on foreign terrorist fighters within FP Travellers has increased substantially since early 2015. “The FBI’s active involvement in FP Travellers will give Europe’s response to foreign terrorist fighters an extra boost,” says Wil van Gemert, Deputy Director of Operations of Europol. “Europol is helping to coordinate an effective international response to the current terrorist threat we are facing. The FBI is a very important partner in this global fight against terrorism. By sharing information on a more multilateral level, we believe we will become more effective in our investigations into foreign terrorist fighters.

"The FBI is proud to join with our partners at Europol to better combat the foreign fighter phenomenon.  This agreement will improve the FBI’s ability to share data more readily with Europol and its partner organisations,” says Andrew McCabe, Deputy Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. "In today’s era of terrorist threats, close partnerships are essential to protect the citizens of all our nations.”