Radical vicious circle

Islamist terror threat higher than it has been for a long time

The German Office for the Protection of the Constitution speaks of "radicalization spirals".(Bild: AP/Majdi Mohammed)

The attack in Mannheim and the death of a young police officer have taken their toll on Germany. Radical Islamism is posing ever greater problems for the authorities. At the same time, global conflicts continue to fuel the threat situation on the ground - including in Austria. 

According to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the threat of Islamist terrorist attacks in Germany is currently significantly higher than in previous years. "The risk of jihadist attacks is higher than it has been for a long time," said the President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, in Berlin. According to him, the security authorities are increasingly processing information to this effect.

The head of the domestic intelligence service cites various reasons for the increased risk of attacks - including by self-radicalized individual perpetrators. For example, the takeover of the Islamist Taliban in Afghanistan has promoted the jihadist idea as a whole.

Vienna terrorists high on the agenda
Another factor is the strengthening of the Islamic State Province of Khorasan (ISPK) terrorist militia, particularly in Pakistan and Afghanistan. This is the same group that also targeted Vienna at the turn of the year. The terror cells in Europe are well organized, explained DSN head Omar Haijawi-Pirchner recently, but the greatest threat in Austria last year was posed by radicalized individual perpetrators.

Anyone who wants a "theocracy" and cries out for it must be "locked up or deported", emphasized Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) at the presentation of the constitutional protection report for 2023 in May. "Such radicals have no place in a free society."

Haldenwang sees enormous risk of Islamist attacks.(Bild: AFP/John MACDOUGALL)

Haijawi-Pirchner's German colleague Haldenwang explained that Koran burnings in Scandinavia and the Israeli military operation against the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip had also contributed to "setting spirals of radicalization in motion".

Mannheim shock runs deep
Haldenwang told dpa: "The situation in the Middle East following the terrorist attack by Hamas is definitely another reason for the intensification of the threat posed by Islamist terrorism." It is also clear that "Germany is more in the focus of jihadists than other European countries because our country is considered one of Israel's most important supporters alongside the USA."

At the end of May, a 25-year-old Afghan injured five participants at a rally organized by the Pax Europa movement, which is critical of Islam, as well as a police officer in Mannheim with a knife. The 29-year-old officer, Rouven Laur, later succumbed to his injuries. Investigators suspect an Islamist-extremist motive for the attack.

His agency had never underestimated the threat posed by Islamist terrorism, but rather repeatedly pointed out "that the security situation is very tense", said the President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

International cooperation to secure EM
In the past, radical Islamists have repeatedly used major events as an opportunity to become active. The European Football Championship in Germany starts in the coming days. An international alliance of police authorities - the so-called "International Police Cooperation Center" (IPCC) in Neuss - is to provide security.

"It is the national and international hub for information so that things can move quickly in an emergency," announced the German Ministry of the Interior. According to Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD), the safety of the fans, the teams and everyone in the country has "top priority".

Triad of danger
However, Haldenwang believes it is currently almost impossible to name the greatest threat to security. "We are currently dealing with a triad: the threat posed by Islamist terrorism, the social climate that has been heated up by right-wing extremism in particular, including xenophobia and hostility towards Muslims, and the influence and espionage activities of foreign states." Added to this is the threat posed by increasingly violent left-wing extremism.