Faeser and the EU Commission warn
There is currently an “enormous risk” of terrorist attacks
December 5th, 2023, 9:38 p.m
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The deadly Islamist attack on a tourist in France has increased fears of new attacks. Federal Interior Minister Faeser calls the current danger “acute”. And there are also warnings from the EU Commission.
After the fatal knife attack on a German tourist in Paris at the weekend, fears of further Islamist attacks are growing in Europe. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said at the EU Interior Ministers’ meeting in Brussels that the brutal act of violence showed “how acute and how serious the threat from Islamist terrorism currently is in the EU – not only in Germany, but also in all neighboring countries.”
In her own words, EU Interior Commissioner Ylva Johansson sees an “enormous risk of terrorist attacks” in the upcoming holiday season. She spoke of a “polarization” in society caused by the war between Israel and the radical Islamic Hamas.
Faeser also said that the Middle East war was making the situation worse. “The risk of further emotionalization and radicalization of violent Islamist perpetrators is high,” emphasized the Interior Minister. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution recently warned of an acute danger of Islamist attacks.
Islamist stabbed tourist
Johansson announced an additional 30 million euros for the protection of particularly vulnerable places such as places of worship. In Paris at the weekend, an Islamist known to the police stabbed a tourist from Germany. The attacker justified this in a video, among other things, with the violence against Palestinians. He also claimed responsibility for the Islamic State (IS) jihadist militia.
Sweden’s Interior Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard also remembered the Islamist who shot two Swedish football fans and injured others on the sidelines of a European Championship qualifier in Brussels in mid-October. The IS militia also claimed responsibility for this.
Faeser said that Europe’s security authorities must “keep a particularly close eye on Islamist threats right now” and work together against Islamist propaganda. She referred to the ban on Hamas’ activities imposed in Germany. Before the EU meeting, Faeser had already exchanged ideas with France, Belgium, Austria, Sweden and Spain.
Agreement on an asylum pact?
The meeting of interior ministers will also focus on migration and the common asylum policy. On Wednesday, negotiators from the member states and the European Parliament want to try to agree on an asylum pact with which the EU wants to learn the lessons from the 2015 refugee crisis.
Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who is leading the negotiations for member states, said he was “somewhat optimistic” about a breakthrough. Faeser advocated a compromise because only then could there be effective external border protection.
Among other things, shortened asylum procedures directly at Europe’s external borders and faster deportations are planned. Faeser expressed the hope that the European Parliament would make improvements “in the interests of Germany”. Among other things, Parliament is demanding exceptions to border procedures for families with children. With this demand, the federal government was largely isolated at the member state level.