President Obama’s homeland security adviser is in Brussels this week to follow up on Belgian authorities’ counterterrorism efforts, the White House announced Tuesday.
Lisa Monaco is meeting with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michelle Tuesday and later will sit down with senior European Union officials to discuss how the U.S. can help Belgium and Europe in the wake of Islamic State-inspired attacks on Paris and Brussels, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.
Monaco’s trip is part “of a series of high-level engagements we’re undertaking with our coalition partners to discuss ways we can enhance our counter-terrorism cooperation,” Earnest said.
Discussions are focused on stemming the flow of foreign fighters, preventing their return to Western nations, and enhancing intelligence cooperation, he said.
“We will work to share with our partners lessons the United States learned, following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, about breaking down information stove pipes and protecting our homeland more effectively,” Earnest said.
European intelligence officials have been criticized for not working closely enough or sharing enough information, which some say inhibited them from preventing the deadly attacks in Brussels.
