A new alert for threats to Europe’s security was launched this Monday by senior officials of the European Union. According to the European Commissioner for the Interior, Ylva Johansson, stated this Monday that the jihadist threat at the Olympic Games being held in Paris this summer or at the Euro Cup underway in Germany is “real.”
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“Alert levels are high. Member States are strengthening security around the Olympic Games and the European Championship. The threat is real,” Johansson said at a conference to present the European center for the prevention of radicalization.
The Swedish commissioner stressed that what she is “particularly concerned about” is the Islamic State of Greater Khorasan (known as ISKP or ISIS-K), a “regional brand of the Islamic State capable of carrying out major attacks abroad.”
He highlighted the problem that young people are radicalized on the internet and that “the perpetrators of violent acts are increasingly younger.”
“We must do what we can to end this, we must protect our children and our societies,” he commented.
We must do what we can to end this, we must protect our children and our societies
In parallel, he assured that “threats from abroad make us less safe inside.”
“Russia inspires and feeds far-right extremists here in the European Union, directly undermining our democracies,” he emphasized.
And I add: “Russian-linked sabotage and destabilization, carried out by proxy jihadist terrorists, remains the biggest threat, with no signs of abating following the October 7 attacks and the Gaza war.”
Johansson warned that “the danger is increasing” and that it is necessary to increase efforts “to counter radicalization,” which is why he said that the Commission has promoted the knowledge center on prevention of radicalization.
The initiative, he noted, has built on the successes of the European Radicalization Awareness Network, to help professionals, policy makers and researchers “work together and support Member States with more targeted support.” and adapted.”
He explained that it is “a renewed focus on training and research, improving knowledge to build strategies and policies in new ways so that we can work together and share ideas.”
“The objective of the center is to establish relationships, build bridges between countries and break down walls between disciplines,” he added.
The center will have the contributions of academics and policy makers who will be in contact with professionals, victims’ groups, local police, teachers or social workers, family and community workers.
“They are the first to see when a child goes down the slippery slope towards terror. United at the center, we will get that child back on his feet,” Johansson concluded.
The alleged threat from the Islamic State to Real Madrid players
In parallel with these warnings issued by the European official, a report from the newspaper The confidential ensures thatThe Spanish Civil Guard dismantled an Islamic State cell that encouraged its fighters to attack the lives of Real Madrid players.
In fact, this same complaint from the Spanish newspaper also points out that it reiterates Ylva Johansson’s alert, which would indicate within the same plans to attack the Olympics and the Euro Cup.
According to the messages that the jihadists sent to the members of their cells in Spain, The main objective was to attack the buses in which the players were transported, the fans and even the Santiago Bernabéu itself.
What do the analysts say?
The jihadist group Islamic State (IS), which has claimed responsibility for spectacular and bloody attacks in recent months, has made sport a key element of its propaganda war, a few months before the European Championship in Germany and the Paris 2024 Games.
Lucas Webber, a specialist in jihadism and co-founder of the specialized site Militant Wire, explained to the AFP agency the communication strategies of IS and its affiliate in Afghanistan, the Islamic State in Khorasan (IS-K), which is currently the branch most capable of organizing major attacks abroad.
It was this group that directly threatened with attacks in the stadiums where the first leg matches of the Champions League quarterfinals were held on Tuesday and Wednesday.
They may want to attack sporting events or perhaps they want to focus the attention of security and intelligence services on stadiums to attack other types of targets, such as places of worship, shopping centers or government buildings.
Although no major incidents were reported in Madrid, Paris, or London (the three cities where the meetings were held), the American analyst considers that the threat persists.
Following the latest major attacks in Iran (90 dead in January) and Moscow (144 in March) and Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, IS “has used this global media attention to reorient its followers, its foreign operations and its incitements to violence against the West, in particular Europe and its sporting events, such as football matches in the largest European stadiums and the upcoming Olympic Games,” says Webber.
“The IS-K has established itself as a new pole, along with the IS in Syria, for inciting violence and operations abroad. (On Tuesday) They published a threatening image of a drone attack. They may want to attack against sporting events or perhaps they want to concentrate the attention of security and intelligence services on stadiums to attack other types of targets, such as places of worship, shopping centers or government buildings,” he adds.
“It is a real challenge for European security services,” insists the specialist.
Specifically, the objective of the EI-K is, according to Webber, “to overload the intelligence and security services and provoke fear.”
*With Efe and AFP
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