On the sidelines of the launch of CEP in the European continent, August Hanning, ex-Director of the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) told Alhayat newspaper he does not see an "end in sight to the conflict in Syria." He added that the jihadist threat in Europe started decades ago, specifically during the Afghan war during the 1980s. Hanning said that Libya and the refugee crisis are "nightmare" for the European continent, describing Twitter as ISIL's "recruitment gateway".