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TERRORISM

500 police to patrol Vienna for New Year

Security in Vienna will be high as residents and visitors gather to celebrate New Year’s Eve, after police received a warning last week of possible terror attacks during the holiday season.

Published: 31 December 2015 10:14 CET
500 police to patrol Vienna for New Year
New Year's Eve celebrations in Vienna. Photo: wien.info

500 police will patrol Vienna’s city centre where thousands of people are expected to gather for the annual ‘Silvesterpfad’ – a New Year’s trail through the old city with stands serving punch and food. Large fireworks displays will be held at the Rathausplatz and in the Prater park at midnight.

“Police task forces have been instructed to pay attention to particular situations, and to certain types of objects and behaviours – especially in areas with larger groups of people,” police spokesman Roman Hahslinger said.

Special forces officers from the Cobra and Wega units will also be deployed on the streets, along with intelligence service officers.

New Year’s revellers taking part in the Silvesterpfad are advised to only carry what is “absolutely necessary” with them and to leave bottles of beverages at home, Hahslinger said. Anyone carrying a large rucksack should be prepared to be stopped and searched by police. Police will also be patrolling major transport hubs outside of the city.

The terror warning remains vague but police said that in the lead-up to Christmas, a friendly intelligence service sent a warning to numerous European capitals saying potential bomb or gun attacks could take place in areas with large crowds between Christmas and New Year.

Tourism officials have said they do not believe that people will choose to stay at home because of security concerns. Last year, 620,000 people celebrated New Year’s Eve in central Vienna.

The celebrations start at 2pm and will go on until 2am on Friday. The routes and program of the New Year’s Eve Trail can be accessed directly via the app 'Oroundo Vienna' in 13 locations via beacons (little Bluetooth transmitters), without roaming costs.

Vienna's dance schools will be offering crash waltz dancing courses during the afternoon in the Graben area, turning it into an open-air ballroom

The weather is expected to be crisp and chilly, at around -5C – which could mean people choose to go home earlier than usual.

New Year's Day in Vienna will be greeted with a morning “hangover cure” brunch – featuring the Vienna Philharmonic's New Year's Day concert on a big screen – in front of the Rathaus.

TERRORISM

What is the risk of new terror attacks in Austria?

Following the March 22nd attack in Moscow’s Crocus City Hall that left over 140 dead, European governments are evaluating the threat of terror attacks. Is Austria a target for fresh terrorist attacks?

Published: 28 March 2024 12:32 CET
What is the risk of new terror attacks in Austria?

With responsibility for the Moscow attack being taken by the Islamist terror organisation ISIS-K, national intelligence services are reevaluating the threat posed to targets within their borders. 

‘No concrete threat’

Austrian officials have been quick to give their appraisal of the situation. 

“We currently have the Islamist scene under control,” stressed Omar Haijawi-Pirchner, head of the Directorate of State Security & Intelligence (DSN) – the governmental agency responsible for combatting internal threats – in an interview with the Ö1 Morgenjournal radio programme on Tuesday. 

He continued: “The terrorist attacks in Moscow, for example, definitely increase the risk. But at the moment, we do not see any concrete threat of an attack in Austria,”

Other experts and officials have warned that while there are no concrete threats, Austrians should not be complacent. 

‘Situation is still valid’ 

Interior Minister Gerhard Karner announced tighter security at church festivals during the Easter period, in the days after the attack, and stressed that the high terror alert level introduced after the October 7 Hamas attacks was still in place. 

“This increased risk situation is still valid,” noted Karner.

READ MORE: What does Austria’s raised terror alert mean for the public?

Meanwhile, terror researcher Peter Neumann of King’s College London told ORF’s ‘ZiB 2’ news broadcast on Monday that Austria remains a potential target due to its Central Asian migrant population. 

Neumann noted that countries at most risk are those “in which Tajik and Central Asian diasporas exist and where ISIS-K finds it relatively easy to identify and recruit people”. 

He continued, identifying both Austria and Germany as “countries in which the ISPK is particularly active and which are particularly at risk from terrorist attacks”.

New threats

Austria has not been spared from attacks from homegrown terrorists.

On November 2nd 2020, amid Coronavirus lockdowns, Austrian-born Kujtim Fejzulai shot and killed four, injuring twenty-three others during a shooting spree across Vienna. He was ultimately shot dead by police. 

Fejzulai was already under surveillance by federal authorities for his beliefs and had been released from prison on parole less than a year before. 

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