‘Huge risk of Christmas terrorist attacks’ – EU warns

A high-ranking EU official said there is a big chance of terrorist attacks in the European Union during the upcoming holiday season.

Ylva Johansson, from the European Home Affairs Commission, said that the fighting between Israel and Hamas is making people more divided and increasing the chances of violence.

She made these comments a few days after a visitor was killed by being stabbed in Paris.

The EU is giving an extra €30m (£26m) for more security, said Ms Johansson.

She did not say if there was any particular information that caused the warning.

“We recently saw it in Paris, and we have seen it before too,” she said before a meeting of EU interior ministers.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said that the EU needs to watch out for threats and propaganda, as there is a high risk of violent Islamist attackers becoming more emotionally charged and radicalized.

Several European countries have experienced an increase in hate crimes after Hamas gunmen attacked Israeli communities, resulting in about 1,200 deaths and many people being held hostage in Gaza. Israel went into Gaza and more than 15,000 people have been killed, according to the health ministry run by Hamas.

European Union ministers met after a violent attack happened near the Eiffel Tower on Saturday. A 23-year-old German tourist named Collin B was killed, and his girlfriend and a British tourist were injured in the attack.

The young German couple went to Disneyland Paris and the Louvre, and took pictures in front of the Eiffel Tower before the attack.

Police said that the 26-year-old French suspect, named Armand R, who is from a non-religious Iranian family, promised to follow the Islamic State group.

The man who was caught at the place had been in jail before for making a plan to cause terror in the La Défense area of Paris.

In 2020, the French police talked to him because he was in contact with Abdoullakh Anzorov, who killed teacher Samuel Paty.

The prosecutor in charge of stopping terrorism, Jean-François Ricard, said that Armand R’s mother was worried about his actions, but there wasn’t enough proof to do anything about it at that time.

Germany is very worried about a possible attack and is being extra careful.

Two boys were stopped in different places in the country last week because the police thought they might be planning to do a militant Islamist attack on a Christmas market in Leverkusen.

A 20-year-old person from Iraq, who came to Germany last year, is being held by the police for allegedly planning to carry out a knife attack at a Christmas market in Hannover.

The leader of German intelligence in the state of Thuringia, Stephan Kramer, said that people who support Hamas could be very dangerous. He thinks they could cause problems at big events like the Paris Olympics and Euro 2024 football championships, not just at Christmas markets.