Brussels - The Arab Spring revolutions that have uprooted authoritarian regimes in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya are “the strongest answer” to the fanaticism behind the Islamist attacks which targeted the United States ten years ago, European Union leaders said Friday. “The people in the streets of Tunis, Cairo, Benghazi and across the Arab world have sent a strong signal for freedom and democracy. This is the strongest answer to the fatuous hate and blind fanaticism of the 9/11 crimes,” EU President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in a joint statement. Speaking ahead of Sunday's tenth anniversary of al-Qaeda's strike against the US, Van Rompuy and Barroso warned that the 'errant ideologies behind these attacks are still a threat.' “That's why Europe stands shoulder to shoulder with our friends and allies in the global fight against terrorist networks and their economic backbone,” they said. But EU leaders also insisted that “we can only succeed in this endeavor if we stay true to our core values, within Europe and on the world stage.” They mentioned the need to promote the rule of law, human rights, democracy, intercultural dialogue and “providing economic and educational opportunities.”
