International terrorism becomes one of the most dangerous problems at the beginning of the 21^st century. Terrorist attacks have serious impact on politics, economy, military as well as security forces, international law and legislation, and psychological issues. International terrorism is legally characterised not only as a threat to the life and property of individuals, but also as a worldwide threat to human civilization, social order, international public order and values. The aim of this contribution is to specify the incidence of terrorist attacks from 1970 to 2013 in European countries and to characterise their imminent impact on the number of casualties. Furthermore, the contribution aims to specify the type of these attacks, weapons employed in them and numbers of casualties corresponding to various types of weapons. The analysis was based on data from databases and existing studies. The monitored period witnessed a slow but steady increase in the incidence of terrorist attacks in the EU countries without any significant changes. The types of weapons employed in these attacks did not change much, either.

Keywords: Terrorist attack; European countries; type of weapons; casualties