A prime European official has warned that there’s a ‘big danger of terrorist assaults’ within the EU over the Christmas interval.
European House Affairs Fee Ylva Johansson warned that the elevated danger of terror assaults is prone to come from the polarisation of society brought on by the Israel-Hamas warfare.
Her feedback come days after a vacationer was stabbed to loss of life in Paris. She stated: “We noticed it just lately in Paris, sadly, we now have seen it earlier as nicely.”
She didn’t specify whether or not there was any particular data which had led to the warning.
A German official, Nancy Faeser, has additionally warned that the European Union must intently be careful for threats and propaganda to stop the emotionalisation and radicalisation of violent Islamist people.
This comes as a number of European nations have skilled an increase in hate crimes following assaults by Hamas gunmen on Israeli communities.
The current assembly of EU ministers mentioned these issues after a lethal stabbing close to the Eiffel Tower, the place a German vacationer was killed and others injured.
The attacker, a 26-year-old French man with a historical past of planning a terror plot, had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.
In 2020 he was questioned by the French police as a result of he had been involved with Abdoullakh Anzorov, the one that killed instructor Samuel Paty.
The French anti-terror prosecutor, Jean-François Ricard, talked about that Armand R’s mom had expressed issues about his behaviour, however at the moment, there wasn’t sufficient proof to take additional motion in opposition to him.
Germany can be on excessive alert for potential assaults. Lately, two boys had been detained in several elements of the nation on suspicion of planning a militant Islamist assault on a Christmas market in Leverkusen. Moreover, a 20-year-old Iraqi who arrived in Germany final yr is in custody on suspicion of planning a knife assault on a Christmas market in Hannover.
Stephan Kramer, the pinnacle of German home intelligence within the state of Thuringia, has warned concerning the vital danger posed by people sympathetic to Hamas. This hazard extends not solely to Christmas markets but additionally to main occasions just like the Paris Olympics and the Euro 2024 soccer championships subsequent yr.