Moscow: Traffic light sees security authorities well prepared for Islamist threats

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Police forces in Frankfurt am Main: protection concepts developed

Photo: Felix Hirth / dpa

The attack near Moscow is also sparking new security debates in Germany. The federal government believes the country is well prepared for possible threats from Islamist attacks. The security measures are "already high," said a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior in Berlin. Protection concepts, for example for the European Football Championship in the summer, are being continuously developed. As is usual with such major events, an expansion of border controls is already planned during the football tournament.

In Germany there are no terror warning levels like in France. On Sunday evening, a few months before the Olympic Games, the government there declared the highest of three alert levels because of the Moscow attack.

At least 137 people were killed in the attack on a concert hall in a suburb of the Russian capital on Friday. The Afghan IS branch “Islamic State Khorasan Province” (IS-K) claimed responsibility for the attack.

Risk assessment “not changed yet”

The security authorities' risk assessment "has not yet changed" as a result of the Moscow attack, said the ministry spokesman. However, he pointed out that Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) sees IS-K as "the greatest Islamist threat in Germany." The security authorities are therefore “very vigilant” and “well prepared”. This was also demonstrated by several arrests in this area in recent months.

The CDU Bundestag member Philipp Amthor, however, saw the federal government as “weakly” prepared: “Our security services are poorly equipped by the government. “You lack the necessary powers,” he told the broadcasters RTL and n-tv. In recent years, more than half of the terrorist attacks thwarted in Germany were only prevented by tips from foreign intelligence services. Amthor particularly called for a new data retention law in order to store internet data from suspects for longer.

Thuringia's Interior Minister Georg Maier (SPD) called for more resources for the security authorities as a result of the terrorist attack: "The secret services are doing an excellent job, but are currently extremely burdened by Islamism, right-wing extremism and espionage," Maier told the news portal "Politico". “In the future, we must equip the services better in terms of materials and personnel in order to be able to continue to guarantee security in Germany in the future.”

Green party deputy Konstantin von Notz saw the European Football Championship as a challenge: “The German security authorities will be subjected to maximum personnel demands in the next few months,” he told the “Rheinische Post”. “And we need the full political support of the federal and state governments.”

At major events such as the European Football Championships in June and July, “increased measures” would generally be taken, especially against Islamist threats, said the spokesman for the Interior Ministry. Of course, an attack like the one in Moscow ensures that “the authorities take a close look at it” and that it is incorporated into the security planning for the EM.

mrc/AFP