THE GERMAN government has called for “vigilance but not hysteria” after saying it had received “concrete” indications of a pending attack, prompting it to increase its terrorism warning level.
Police bearing machine guns and wearing bullet-proof vests were posted yesterday in airports, train stations and at landmarks including the Brandenburg Gate amid speculation of possible attacks on bustling Christmas markets, which open in 10 days’ time.
“We will show strength and will not allow ourselves to be intimidated,” interior minister Thomas de Maizière told reporters at a hastily called press conference. “We will not allow international terrorism to limit our lifestyles nor our culture of freedom.”
His officials conceded that the warning was serious enough for them to “expect an attack at any time”, reportedly organised by four Islamists from India and Pakistan, as well as a German Moroccan and German Syrian. Police sources said the men were preparing to travel to Germany at the end of this month and were already in possession of Schengen visas.
Yesterday’s announcement is a radical departure for Mr de Maizière who, until now, had taken a low-key approach to terrorist threats, refusing to issue warnings like predecessors or the US and Britain.
A month ago, the interior minister dismissed “alarmist” warnings from Washington and London. Yesterday, a sober minister said Berlin had received information from a “friendly state” of a looming attack in the days after the Yemen parcel bomb warning.
Both bombs were destined for Jewish institutions in the US; one of the bombs passed through Cologne before it was intercepted in Britain. The Yemen plot had, according to the German minister, shown “the adaptability and the persistence of terrorists” and “the reliability of leads”.
“It is the unanimous assessment of the security services that we are currently dealing with a new situation,” said Mr de Maizière. “We now have more details and indications of danger.” A spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel said there were no plans to change her schedule.
“We would be making a big mistake as a society if we allowed our free and democratic way of life to be impaired in any way,” said Steffen Seibert. “That would be giving the terrorists a cheap victory.”