Europol: Terror threats in Europe

The overall terrorist threat to the security of the EU remains acute.

The main concern of Member States is jihadist terrorism and the closely related phenomenon of foreign terrorist fighters who travel to and from conflict zones.

Recent attacks in the EU demonstrate the intent and capability of jihadist terrorists to inflict mass casualties on urban populations in an effort to induce a high state of well-publicised terror.

The carefully planned attacks continue to demonstrate the elevated threat to the EU from an extremist minority, operationally based in the Middle East, combined with a network of people born and raised in the EU, often radicalised within a short space of time, who have proven willing and able to act as facilitators and active accomplices in terrorism.

In 2018, there were seven completed jihadist terrorist attacks: three in France, two in the Netherlands, one in Belgium and one in the UK; one jihadist attack failed in Spain. In addition, another 16 incidents were reported as foiled jihadist terrorist plots. A total of 13 people were killed and 46 injured in jihadist attacks in 2018. The casualties included 12 police officers, three of whom were killed.
France, the Netherlands and the UK witnessed the highest number of attacks and the highest rate of successfully foiled terrorist plots. France, Germany and Italy reported disrupted terrorist plots involving the attempted use of chemical and/or biological materials.

The completed and failed jihadist attacks were mostly carried out using knives and firearms, and predominantly targeted civilians. All attack plots involving the use of explosives were disrupted.

The majority of the perpetrators were acting or were planning to act alone. However, several foiled terrorist plots, including two in the Netherlands, were prepared by individuals acting in a group.

In 2018, terrorism continued to constitute a major threat to security in EU Member States. Horrific attacks perpetrated by jihadists like those in Trèbes, Paris, Liège and Strasbourg killed a total of thirteen people and injured many more. In addition, one terrorist attack by a right-wing extremist in Italy and numerous arrests of suspected right-wing terrorists for attack-planning across the European Union (EU) indicate that extremists of diverging orientation increasingly consider violence as a justified means of confrontation. Terrorists not only aim to kill and maim but also to divide our societies and spread hatred. We need to remain vigilant if we are to protect our citizens and values in the face of attempts to use violence for political aims.
I am particularly saddened that three police officers lost their lives in terrorist acts in the EU in 2018 while trying to keep their communities safe. Our thoughts are with their families and loved ones. We pay special tribute to the late Colonel Arnaud Beltrame, who exchanged himself for a hostage taken by an attacker in Trèbes knowing that he was putting his life in danger.

Compared to the year before, the number of attacks and the number of victims in the EU dropped significantly with regard to terrorism of all ideological tendencies. Whereas in 2017 jihadists perpetrated ten terrorist attacks in the EU, we suffered seven jihadist terrorist attacks last year. At the same time, however, the number of disrupted jihadist terrorist plots increased substantially. The latter included attempts to produce and deploy chemical and biological substances, a fact which illustrates the level of intent and commitment of individuals, cells and networks to use terrorist tactics to harm the societies they live in.
The level of the threat from terrorism, thus, has not diminished, despite the military defeat of IS earlier this year. If anything, the situation has become more complex. Within the jihadist milieu, multiple actors of diverging motivation and allegiance are plotting alone or conspiring with others; and right-wing extremists, in a bid to justify violence, prey on the perception of a threat from Islam, which some people readily fuel by interpreting terrorist propaganda and criminal behaviour as representative of a world religion.

In the light of the above, I am confident that the efforts of law enforcement, security services, public authorities, private companies and civil society organisations to counter terrorism have substantially contributed to the decrease in violence in Europe. Faced with the surge in terrorist violence that Europe has witnessed since 2014, public authorities and private organisations that used to work largely separately have established new and creative ways of cooperation. There is a general realisation that everyone needs to play a role and must assume her part of the shared responsibility to conserve the precious good of living in societies with a high level of security. Equality and freedom can only thrive where citizens can trust that they can exercise their rights and participate in public life without intimidation or fear of violence.

Unfortunately, in a growing number of locations outside Europe, violence has become prevalent. In countries like Syria, Libya, Mali, Afghanistan, among others, terrorist groups have

gained influence to an extent that they rival
the state, whose authority in many cases has already been undermined by particularistic policies, weak structures and corruption. Citizens of these countries are exposed to existential threats to their lives and property based on
their belonging to particular communities or adhering to particular practices or beliefs. The perpetuation of these crises has proven to have an impact on Europe, be it through the creation of new grievances or prejudice among different communities in Europe, discrediting international efforts at crisis resolution through diplomacy or providing space for destructive ideologies and terrorist networks to prosper.
As the line between online and offline communities becomes increasingly blurred, terrorist propaganda preying on human suffering abroad reaches audiences in Europe to unprecedented extents, inciting some to act and driving others to embrace extremist views on the opposite end.
In Europe, the feeling of insecurity that terrorists try to create must be of the greatest concern to us because it has the potential to undermine the cohesion of our societies. Increasing polarisation and the rise of extremist views is a concern for EU Member States

This EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report (TE-SAT), which Europol has produced each year since 2007, provides an overview of the failed, foiled and completed attacks in the EU, as well as of terrorism-related arrests, convictions and penalties.

The report addresses terrorism in all its forms, namely:

• Jihadist terrorism
• Ethno-nationalist and separatist terrorism
• Left-wing and anarchist terrorism
• Right-wing terrorism
• Single-issue terrorism.

According to the most recent TE-SAT, in the EU in 2017:

• 68 people died and over 844 were injured as a result of terrorist attacks;
• There were 205 failed, foiled or completed terrorist attacks in nine Member States;
• Explosives were used in 30% of the attacks;
• 975 individuals were arrested for terrorism-related offences;
• Courts issued 569 verdicts to 565 individuals tried on terrorism charges;
• The ECTC supported 439 counter terrorism investigations.

Of the 12 trends identified in the latest TE-SAT, most related to jihadist terrorism. While there was a large number of terrorist attacks not connected with jihadism, the latter accounts for the most serious forms of terrorist activity as nearly all reported fatalities and most of the casualties were the result of jihadist terrorist attacks.

The attacks in Manchester (with explosives) and Barcelona (with vehicles), which intended to randomly kill and wound as many people as possible, again demonstrated the harm jihadist militants are able and willing to inflict upon EU citizens, legitimised by the interpretation they adopted of selectively sampled religious texts.

Jihadist terrorists can be both directed by the Islamic State (IS) or merely inspired by IS ideology and rhetoric. Jihadist terrorists have been found to use a range of weapons to include bladed weapons, automatic rifles, explosives and vehicles, and are expected to continue to do so.

Jihadist attacks can be both carefully prepared and carried out spontaneously. Terrorists acting in the name of IS have proven to be able to plan relatively complex attacks – including those on multiple targets – quickly and effectively.

In terms of right-wing terrorism, the report notes that politicians, public figures, political parties, civic action groups and media that take a critical view of right-wing extremism, or advocate pro-migration policies, have to be considered as potential targets of right-wing extremist agitation, given the incidences of attacks and physical assaults on them.

Anarchist and left-wing extremists, on the other hand, take advantage of peaceful demonstrations to carry out attacks on government property and law enforcement personnel, the report finds.

https://www.europol.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/tesat_2019_final.pdf.
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