Following Attack on Berlin CSD, Austria Sees No Concrete Threat

The CSD in Berlin is considered one of the largest LGBTQ Pride events in Europe. The acts recall the attack plans on the Vienna Rainbow Parade on June 17, 2023, as terrorism expert Guido Steinberg emphasized.

Warning of Comparable Threat

Steinberg warned of a comparable threat situation in Austria and Germany, so that a similar attack must be expected "at any time". Steinberg said, according to Heute (online), that there had already been suspects in Austria who had planned a similar attack on the Pride Parade in Vienna.

The Interior Ministry stated, "Analogous to Europe, Austria records 'an increase in abstract danger potentials, but also in concrete danger situations'". A general, high latent alert level therefore applies across Europe. "The threat situation regarding terrorist acts is currently to be regarded as generally high".

Dangerous Individuals and Terror Alert Level in Austria

In Austria, the terror alert level was raised to level four of five in October 2023. The number of persons classified as dangerous individuals in the area of Islamist extremism and terrorism is in the low three-digit range, according to ministry information. Dangerous individuals are persons "who would potentially be willing to use violence or carry out attacks".

The Interior Ministry described the authority for monitoring messengers of dangerous individuals, applicable in the course of the coming year, as "an essential contribution" to averting dangers from the extremist sphere. "Islamist extremism and terrorism is a global phenomenon that is strongly influenced by the spread of information and radicalization processes on the internet".

Powers of the Domestic Intelligence Service

The domestic intelligence service uses all powers regulated in the State Protection and Intelligence Service Act (SNG). Within the Directorate for State Protection and Intelligence Service (DSN), a civilian domestic intelligence service is set up as an early warning system, and state protection for the preventive protection against such attacks.

In the case of the Vienna Rainbow Parade, two brothers aged 20 and 23 were found guilty in mid-July in St. Pölten. They received six months and one year of conditional imprisonment respectively for terrorist association and criminal organization. The proceedings make clear that the authorities take concrete plans in Austria seriously.

Vienna Rainbow Parade as Precedent

Austrian security authorities thus face the task of, on the one hand, not dramatizing any concrete indications and, on the other hand, consistently applying the existing instruments – from monitoring dangerous individuals to the terror alert level – in order to prevent attacks at an early stage.