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@RationalMadman
Europe is no utopia.
For the first time ever, terrorism is perceived by Europeans as the most important issue confronting the European Union. Nearly half of all survey respondents, 44%, now say they believe it to be the most pressing issue — in the fall of 2016, just 32% thought so.
The survey showed that the issue was deemed most concerning by people in Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, and Malta.
The finding follows a slew of terror attacks across Europe within the last year, and particularly around the time when Eurobarometer was conducting its survey. Here are some of the incidents that may have set Europeans on edge:
The survey showed that the issue was deemed most concerning by people in Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, and Malta.
The finding follows a slew of terror attacks across Europe within the last year, and particularly around the time when Eurobarometer was conducting its survey. Here are some of the incidents that may have set Europeans on edge:
- An attacker plowed a truck into a Christmas market in Berlin, Germany, on December 19, 2016, killing 12 and injuring 56.
- A terrorist with a machete rushed a group of soldiers guarding theLouvre Museum in Paris, France, on February 3, 2017. One of the soldiers was wounded.
- An attacker mowed down pedestrians on London's Westminster Bridge on March 22, 2017, killing five and injuring 49.
- A man plowed a hijacked beer truck into a crowd of shoppers in Stockholm, Sweden, on April 7, 2017, killing four and injuring 15.
- A gunman armed with an assault rifle shot and killed a police officer in a shootout on the famed Champs-Élysées boulevard in Paris, France, on April 20, 2017.
- A suicide bombing outside an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, on May 22, 2017 killed 22 and wounded dozens of concert-goers.
- A group of attackers killed eight people and injured 48 others when they plowed a vehicle into pedestrians on London Bridge on June 3, 2017, then took to the nearby Borough Market, wearing fake explosive belts and armed with 12-inch knives, to stab passers-by.