Re: Europe’s Urgent Security Challenge (editorial, April 11):

To the editor:

The article ends by recommending that European countries abandon attitudes and structures that impede counterterrorism cooperation. However, the article only mentions Western European countries, and thus underestimates the difficulties of cooperation. The author comes across as just another armchair theorist.

The article’s definition is too narrow because ISIL branches have claimed responsibility for all European attacks, including those in Turkey as well as France and Belgium. Turkey has a strategic location for intelligence and operations on the other side of Europe, which can be substantial if utilized efficiently. Countries such as Poland and Hungary, which the article ignores, may not be target countries, but as part of the EU and Schengen, they provide easy border access. Border access is crucial to monitor because terrorist networks have been found to work across borders.

It is important to a successful counterterrorism strategy to include countries in the East, but this inclusion makes cooperation significantly more difficult. Britain, Germany, and France have a great deal of economic and political power and run the EU, so Poland and Hungary may feel their best interests are not accounted for. This is evident in their reluctance to cooperate with other European countries on the matter of refugees. Hungary already built a wall to block out refugees and Poland has refused to accept any more refugees after the Brussels attack. The above-mentioned countries are part of the standard understanding of Europe, yet the article fails to acknowledge the role they play in European security. Turkey, further removed from Western European power, doesn’t benefit from the EU. Though Turkey is involved in NATO, that involvement focuses on military operations and relies on national intelligence agencies for support. Hence, counterterrorism cooperation between the West and Turkey still leaves much room for improvement.

Solving Europe’s security challenge requires cooperation not only between Western European countries but with the others as well. Thus, the article overestimates the feasibility of the cooperation it recommends.