President Obama on Tuesday said he would press Europe to finalize an agreement that would help airlines share information about how terrorists are traveling, in a bid to shut down the ability of the Islamic State to export terrorist acts around the world.
Obama’s press comes after a White House meeting with French President Francois Hollande, less than two weeks after Islamic State attacks killed 130 in Paris.
“They need to ramp up additional efforts to prevent the flow of foreign terrorist fighters,” Obama said of European nations.
“As part of that, I’m calling on the European Union to finally implement the agreement that’s been long in the works that would require airlines to share passenger information, so we can do more to stop foreign terrorist fighters from entering our countries undetected,” he said.
“And I’m prepared to send teams of our experts to work on this with our European partners to make sure we’re redoubling our efforts together,” he added.
Obama’s call followed a call from British Prime Minister David Cameron, who has also said all European nations need to coordinate better on the movement of airline passengers.
Cameron said the lack of such coordination today is “ridiculous.”
Obama used his remarks to again tell all Americans not to fear the Islamic State, and that the government is doing all it can to prevent similar attacks in the United States.
“I want you to know we will continue to do everything in our power to prevent that from happening,” he said. “Americans will not be terrorized.”
Hollande reiterated his own country’s effort to fight the Islamic State, but said French ground troops would not be part of the equation.
“France will not intervene militarily on the ground,” he said through an interpreter. “It is for local forces to do so.”
Hollande said his government began coordinating with the U.S. immediately after the attacks on Paris, the same night. On the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Turkey last week, the two announced a new information-sharing program between French and U.S. intelligence services.
And the French air force upped its airstrikes, using U.S. intelligence, almost immediately.
“The priority is to take back key locations in the hands of Daesh in Syria,” Hollande said, using the Arabic name for the self-proclaimed Islamic State, or ISIS or ISIL.
Equally important, the 65-nation anti-ISIS coalition must work with haste to seal the Syrian-Turkish border, Hollande said.
“France will work with all partners who are fighting Daesh on the ground,” he said. The coalition needs to support the ground troops in Syria, he said. The recent United Nations Security Council resolution provides the coalition with the “clear basis to act” it needs from the international community.
