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TERRORISM

Austrian festival ups security in wake of attacks

Organisers of a festival in Austria expected to see hundreds of thousands of visitors say they have tightened security at the site following recent terror attacks around Europe.

Austrian festival ups security in wake of attacks
Photo: Lake Festival

Tightened security at the dance music Lake Festival being held today, Friday, and Saturday means festival-goers may have to wait longer than usual to enter, organiser Klaus Leutgeb told the ORF.

“Due to the strengthening of security controls, visitors will need more time in front of and in the entrance area, because there are bomb-sniffing dogs, 50 extra people at the entrances, random bag controls and suspicious people will be additionally searched,” he said.

As well as 400 personnel from a security firm, as many as 50 police officers, lifeguards and firemen will be on the site.

Leutgeb asked that festival-goers refrain from bringing large backpacks, bags or handbags with them as they will not be allowed in.

“It is very important that people feel secure,” he said.

It follows several attacks in Europe in recent weeks, some of which were carried out by people inspired by or affiliated with the so-called Islamic State terrorist group.

In one attack a Syrian asylum seeker exploded a suicide bomb outside a music festival in Ansbach, southern Germany, killing himself and wounding 12 people.

Chance of attack is “very, very low”

Other event organisers in Austria have also upped security, although some have said there is no need for “hysteria”.

Thomas Semmler, who runs Klagenfurt’s Master of Dirt bike show taking place in August, announced a few days ago that “in days like these” they were intensifying the security. Security will only grant entry to people who can provide identification, he told the Kurier.

Organisers of a beach volleyball event taking place this week in Klagenfurt have said they are not increasing security personnel but had given special briefings on “investigating every backpack”.

Criminal sociologist Reinhard Kreissl told the Kurier that although it was important to keep eyes open, there was no need to “fall into a spiral of fear” as the chance of getting caught up in an attack were still “very, very low”.

“The world has not changed, but our feeling, our view of the world has,” he said.

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?

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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