Europe faces a ‘huge risk of terrorist attacks’ over Christmas, EU official warns amid growing tensions over Israel-Hamas war

• Ylva Johansson said EU was making £26million available for additional security

Europe faces a ‘huge risk of terrorist attacks’ over Christmas, an EU official has warned.

European Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said the split opinion caused by the Israel-Hamas war made violence more likely over that period. 

‘We saw (it happening) recently in Paris, unfortunately we have seen it earlier as well,’ she said, referring to the stabbing near the Eiffel Tower on Saturday that left one dead and two injured.

Johansson said the EU was making £26million available for additional security in vulnerable areas, notably places of worship.

She did not specify whether there was any information in particular that had resulted in the warning.

French forensic policemen investigate the scene following a knife attack in Paris, France, 03 December 2023

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser sent her condolences to France over the weekend attack and said it highlights ‘just how acute and how serious the threat posed by Islamist terrorism is currently in the EU’. 

‘The war in Gaza and Hamas’ terror are exacerbating this situation,’ she said.

Faeser said she had spoken with her counterparts from Austria, Belgium, France, Spain and Sweden about the risks.

‘Our security agencies are working very closely together. We must keep a particularly close eye on the Islamist threats right now and take action against Islamist propaganda together with neighbouring countries,’ she said.

Several European countries have seen a rise in hate crimes since Hamas terrorists attacked Israel, leaving around 1,200 people dead and many others held hostage in Gaza. 

The fatal weekend attack in Paris left a German-Filipino tourist dead and two others, including a British man, injured. 

The savage attack took place near the Eiffel Tower shortly before 21:00 local time (20:00 GMT) on Saturday. A 26-year-old French man was later arrested.

French investigations were looking on Monday into the mental health of the suspected assailant, who swore allegiance to the Islamic State group before stabbing the man death and injuring two other people with a hammer.

European Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said the EU was making an additional £26million available for additional security in vulnerable areas, notably places of worship (File Photo)

The French national taken into police custody, Armand Rajabpour-Miyandoab, has a history of mental illness and of Islamic radicalisation, officials said. 

He faces a possible preliminary charge of terrorist-related murder for the nighttime  attack that raised fresh questions about security in Paris before it hosts the Olympic Games next year.

‘This is a case that links radical Islam, undeniably, and mental illness. I must tell the French people the truth that there are numerous cases like this,’ French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said yesterday, adding that around one-third of suspected radicals under surveillance have psychiatric issues.

The stabbing took place within the future security perimeter that will blanket both banks of the River Seine when the 2024 Summer Games open July 26 with a show and parade for the 10,500 athletes along the waterway that cuts through the French capital.

Last week two boys, aged 15 and 16, were arrested in Germany on suspicion of planning an Islamist attack on a Christmas market or a synagogue.

The younger of the two, a German-Afghan from Burscheid in west Germany, was detained after police searched his home.

Authorities were not able to immediately ascertain the seriousness of the alleged plot.

Police are reported to have intervened so as to be cautious, because the boy had set out a time and place.

‘It seemed very concrete,’ said local interior minister Herbert Reul.

‘We received a tip from abroad about possible plans for an attack involving someone from North Rhine-Westphalia, and that’s when the security apparatus kicked in.’

The 16-year-old boy was described as a Russian national.

He was detained on suspicion of preparing the alleged plot in the town of Wittstock/Dosse in the state of Brandenburg outside of Berlin.

Public prosecutors in the two states will now take over the investigation.

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