Quotes by Gijs de Vries

About Gijs de Vries:

Gijs M. de Vries is a Dutch Democrats 66 (D66) politician. He was deputy Interior Minister between 1998 and 2002, and was the European Union's anti-terrorism co-ordinator from 25 March 2004 to March 2007. As of September 2008, he was the chairman of the European Security Research and Innovation Forum (ESRIF).

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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

I have never come across a technology that doesn't change. This is inevitable. You have to adapt your systems as technology develops.

Gijs de Vries

Europe has a long and tragic history of mostly domestic terrorism.

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

Ultimately, freedom and democracy are stronger than fear and tyranny.

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

In intelligence work, there are limits to the amount of information one can share. Confidentiality is essential.

Gijs de Vries

You can't get closer to the heart of national sovereignty than national security and intelligence services.

Gijs de Vries

We are familiar with terrorism. But indiscriminate, cross-border, religiously motivated terrorism is new.

Gijs de Vries

We remain vulnerable. There is no such thing as 100 percent security against terrorism.

Gijs de Vries

Terrorists always have the advantage of surprise.

Gijs de Vries

Terrorists have failed in what is arguably al Qaida's most important objective - to trigger revolutions.

Gijs de Vries

The European Borders Agency in Warsaw has been created to help border forces in Europe cooperate more.

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

We still lack a global definition of terrorism.

Gijs de Vries

We're still stymied by the old stand-off between those who wish to fight terrorism and resistance fighters.

Gijs de Vries

There are no automatic links between poverty and terrorism. Among millions of poor people in the world, only a few turn to terrorism.

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

The violent radicals do not legitimately represent the overwhelming majority of the world's Muslims.

Gijs de Vries

If information ends up in the wrong hands, the lives of people very often are immediately at risk.

Gijs de Vries

Author Bio

NameGijs de Vries
DescriptionDutch politician
BornFebruary 22, 1956
CountryNetherlands
ProfessionPolitician