German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser on Thursday called for “great vigilance” at Germany’s popular Christmas markets.
However, she stressed that there was no “concrete” evidence of a threat.
What did Faeser say about the threat to Christmas markets?
Faeser said there was a high threat situation more broadly.
“Federal security authorities do not currently have any concrete indications of danger,” she told the newspapers of the RND media group.
“But in view of the high threat situation at an abstract level we still have reason to be very vigilant and to take effective action for our security,” she said, adding that security authorities were monitoring “all conceivable threats.”
The minister thanked the regional police forces of Germany’s states for being “present in many places with such great commitment” to ensure security.
Faeser pointed to heightened security measures, including the enforcement of a strict knife ban at Christmas markets, with infringement being penalized by fines of up to €10,000 ($10,543).
Security authorities cite ‘Islamist’ threat
Germany’s BfV domestic security agency said that Germany remained a target for “various terrorist organizations” including the so-called “Islamic State” group.
It said that Christmas markets could be targeted due to their “symbolism” related to “Christian values” and as an “embodiment of Western culture and way of life.”
The agency said that the markets could serve as a suitable target for individuals with an “Islamist motive.”
Attacks on Christmas markets
In 2016, an Islamist attacker drove a stolen truck through a crowd at a Christmas market at central Berlin’s Breitscheidplatz, killing 12 and injuring dozens.
The city of Strasbourg in neighboring France was also the site of an attack on a Christmas market in 2018 in which five were killed.
In June of this year, a court in the western German city of Cologne sentenced a 15-year-old to four years in youth custody for planning an attack on a Christmas market in the nearby city of Leverkusen.
While you’re here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing.
sdi/zc (AFP, dpa, KNA, Reuters)
