I remain optimistic. What we've seen in Europe and the rest of the world is that freedom has a much stronger attraction than radical fundamentalism.
Gijs de Vries

Police forces collect information to be used in a public court to get people convicted. Security services gather information that does not necessarily lead to people being prosecuted and in many cases needs to remain confidential.
Gijs de Vries

Look at Iraq; look at Afghanistan, where at great personal physical risk people have gone to the polls and have rejected the appeal from Bin Laden and his allies to stay at home.
Gijs de Vries

We have an integrated picture of the threat from outside and from within that is provided not only to our foreign ministers but also to our justice and interior ministers.
Gijs de Vries

In situations of military conflict, civil strife, lawlessness, bad governance, and human rights violations, terrorists find it easier to hide, train and prepare their attacks.
Gijs de Vries

There is a series of sectors which could be severely disrupted by terrorist attacks, particularly if they were to happen in several member states simultaneously.
Gijs de Vries

In the fight against terrorism, national agencies keep full control over their police forces, security and intelligence agencies and judicial authorities.
Gijs de Vries

The idea is to have global standards. There is so much travel that if you just had a regional standard, it would probably ultimately have to be changed.
Gijs de Vries