Anyone is now vulnerable to terrorism, Italy's foreign minister Paolo Gentiloni said on Tuesday after alleged Islamic State jihadists slaughtered an elderly priest at his church in northern France.
"No one can feel immune from the terrorist threat," Gentiloni told a combined session of the Italy's upper house Senate and lower house of parliament's foreign affairs and defence committees.
"It's myth that if we didn't carry out military attacks on IS, they wouldn't attack Europe," Gentiloni continued.
"IS struck Europe when it was very strong and is attacking Europe now when the group is under pressure."
Italy, a member of the 23-nation coalition against IS, is "on the front line" in the fight against Islamist terrorism and is reprising a leading role in the international arena, he said.
Gentiloni urged "national solidarity and cohesion" to battle jihadist terrorism, saying IS must be routed from its strongholds in North Africa and the Middle East.
"But military action won't be enough to defeat IS," Gentiloni warned.
"Its sources of funding must be cut off, the countries where it has taken root need to be stabilised and radicalisation must be tackled through social and cultural investment."
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