Most front pages and editorials around Europe today – and all in France – pay tribute to the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, whose editorial team was slaughtered yesterday in a terrorist attack killing 12 people in total.

Shocked and baffled, President Hollande reacted swiftly when he found out about the shooting, reports Le Figaro, rushing to the newspaper’s offices just an hour after the attack ended. He declared the killing was a terrorist attack, offered condolences and called on all French people to stand together. “The country’s tradition of free speech has been attacked; today the French Republic as a whole was the target.” Paying his respects to the slain cartoonists and policemen, he declared: “They are our heroes today” and made Thursday a national day of mourning. “The world is in shock,”Libération comments.

In London, Berlin, Washington and many other capitals, Heads of State and parliamentarians expressed their solidarity with Paris. The US President quickly condemned a “terrifying shooting,” while British PM David Cameron condemned the “barbaric attack,” stressing that his country “sides with France, by being opposed to all kind of terrorism, and by fiercely defending freedom of expression as well as democracy.”

The German Chancellor stated that she was “devastated” by a “despicable attack,” highlighting the fact that “this horrible act is not only an attack against the life of French citizens and France’s internal security […but] an attack against freedom of opinion and the press, which is a core element of our free and democratic culture”. Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy expressed his “strongest condemnation” of this “terrible” attack. “Today we are all French,” stated Maltese PM Joseph Muscat according to the Malta Times’ front page, adding that “people of goodwill, irrespective of their origin, race and religion, will surely unite around these principles.”

Several European leaders such as VP Georgieva also expressed their horror at the attack. EC President Jean-Claude Juncker condemned it as barbarism, expressing his shock and solidarity towards France. European Council President Donald Tusk stated that it was a brutal attack against fundamental values and freedom of expression, which are pillars of democracy. Alithia and rian.ru report that HRVP Federica Mogherini announced that the EU ministers for foreign affairs will discuss the combat against terrorism during their next meeting, and emphasised that these tragic events have strengthened her determination. “Barbarism will not triumph,” added First Vice-President Timmermans.

“Terrorism will be defeated if we stand up for our shared freedom and if we show we are prepared to defend it, shoulder to shoulder.” Annika Ström Melin writes in Dagens Nyheter that the terror attack in Paris will influence the debate and perhaps also the legislation in the entire EU for police forces and national intelligence services to better cooperate in the fight against terrorism. In many articles, the French press calls for national unity and warns against targeting the wrong enemy.

For Les Echos’ and Le Figaro’s editorials, the “barbaric” attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine is a “declaration of war against France, our democracy, our values and our freedom”. Yesterday’s attack was carefully planned and designed to shake French society to its very core, but “capitulating is not an option”, says Les Echos, while Le Figaro argues that our first duty is to show a united front, and our second duty is to arm ourselves morally, politically and legally, arguing that “when war is here, you have to win it.”

El País’s leader writer stands up for liberties as the best way to defend Europe from “the killers of freedom of thought.” The paper calls on the democratic world to hold them back through security measures, of course; but, most of all, by exercising those liberties that are inherent to our culture and way of life. Público‘s editorial argues that this attack forces people to stop and reflect, just as we did after the terrorist attacks in New York, Madrid and London. The most important thing is to defend freedom against terror, fear and violence, and condemn the crime, including from within the Muslim community, it states.

Rzeczpospolita’s Jerzy Haszczyński writes that the West has only one path to take – it must uphold the freedom of speech. Bild’s Kai Diekmann believes that the best thing one can do now is to continue living with and enjoying all the freedoms of our society; Karel Verhoeven writes in De Standaard that “the only response we, as Europeans, can give to this murderous attack is to keep laughing.” Le Soir’s leader writer Béatrice Delvaux asserts that “our first duty of remembrance is to keep speaking out.” L’Echo‘s Joan Condijts sums up: “Three men ran through the French capital thinking they had killed ideas, slashed a newspaper and even avenged their faith, but they just killed men and reinforced the ideals those men were carrying. As there will always be fanatics, so too will there always be people to defend justice, support intelligence and preserve the light.”

Some journalists like Ursula Welter on DLF meanwhile warn that right-wing parties such as Front National will attempt to benefit from the attack. Publico fears that the attack will reinforce the convictions of the Dresden protesters. “The first mistake would be to generalize to all Muslims the acts of a handful of fanatics who respect nothing,” Francis Van de Woestyne notes in La Libre Belgique. La Croix also worries that such an attack may fuel a rejection of the Muslim community. “We need cohesion, not the exploitation of this tragedy,” the newspaper argues, echoed by The Times’ leader writer who warns against French nationalist politicians gaining political advantage from the deaths at Charlie Hebdo.

Regular Times columnist David Aaronovitch argues that a British reluctance to satirise Islam has “connived in turning Charlie Hebdo and others like them into targets” by highlighting their work as unusual. “Our cowardice helped to allow this attack,” he states. Many publications throughout the world planned to republish Charlie Hebdo’s cartoons, the WSJE underlines.

(Press coverage from most EU member states + US + Russia)

© European Union, 2015